SENIORS CHAMPS AT CONSUMER COMPLAINTS

Problems with home-finance deals including reverse mortgages, threats from collectors on debt including health charges, and mistakes on credit reports rank among the top complaints from consumers 62 and older to a federal agency taking heat in Congress, a new report out Thursday says.

Florida’s older residents have filed more than 8,400 complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, second only to almost 11,000 from California seniors, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a group that advocates for consumer protections.

The CFPB, created in 2011, has taken controversial action against companies including a record $100 million fine against bank Wells Fargo for ginning up phony accounts and fees. That has angered some big industry players who say the Obama-era agency has gone too far. They want a Republican-led Congress to clip its wings. Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling has called it “this rogue agency, the Orwellian-named CFPB.”

Legislation that has passed the House and awaits Senate consideration would roll back the powers, funding and independence of the agency and weaken efforts to help older folks, groups like U.S. PIRG argue.

“The Consumer Bureau has already taken numerous major enforcement actions against financial firms targeting older consumers,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. PIRG. “Gutting the CFPB makes it easier for financial scammers to move against older consumers, threatening their homes and retirement savings.”

Mortgages account for 31 percent of complaints by seniors, his group’s study said. Other leading categories: credit reporting and debt collection, both 17 percent.

One older consumer told the agency, “I received a false statement saying that my recently deceased husband owed a third party some debt. My husband owed no one anything.”

To file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, visit consumerfinance.gov/complaint or call (855) 411-2372.