By:  LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ.

Do you have a complaint about your mortgage lender or broker regarding your interest rate, prepayment penalties, fraud, deception, or other matter regarding your home?  First, try to resolve the problem directly with your bank or broker.  If you are unsuccessful, however, I highly recommend you contact an attorney to discuss your legal options.  There are a variety of federal and state laws protecting consumers’ financial rights.  For instance, lenders and brokers are required to provide certain disclosures to borrowers about rates, fees, and other terms and conditions of lending.  If a lender or broker has violated any of the applicable laws, there will be certain legal remedies available to you.  Find an attorney through LawInfo’s online attorney directory. 

In addition to seeking advice from an attorney about your particular situation, you should know that you can make a complaint about a financial institution to various government agencies.  Below is information about how you can submit a complaint to the appropriate agency.   

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) handles complaints about FDIC insured state banks which are not members of the Federal Reserve System.  You can submit a complaint about your financial institution by completing the FDIC Customer Assistance Online Form.  You can also contact the FDIC by mail or phone:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Division of Compliance
1730 Pennsylvania Ave
7th Floor
Washington DC 20429
(877) 275-3342

Comptroller of the Currency

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  The OCC handles complaints about National Banks. (Usually banks that have “National” in their name or “N.A.” after their names.) You can submit a complaint by completing the OCC Online Customer Complaint Form.  You can also contact the OCC by mail or phone:

Comptroller of the Currency
Compliance Management
250 E Street SW
Mail Stop 3-9
Washington DC 20219
(800) 613-6743
www.occ.treas.gov

Office of Thrift Supervision

The Office of Thrift Supervision handles complaints about Federal savings and loans, and also Federal savings banks.  You can submit a complaint about your financial institution by completing the OTS Consumer Complaint Form and mail or fax your complaint to:

Office of Thrift Supervision
Consumer Affairs Division
1700 G Street NW
Washington DC 20552
(800) 842-6929 
FAX:  202-906-7342
www.ots.treas.gov

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission handles complaints concerning most non-bank lenders, such as, mortgage and finance companies and state credit unions.  You can submit your complaint through the FTC’s Online Complaint Assistant. (Note:  The FTC Online Complaint Assistant is sort of a one-stop-shop for a variety of complaints collected by the FTC (including complaints about non-financial companies, business practices, identity theft, and episodes of violence in the media), so don’t get confused if you see questions related to these topics when using the Online Complaint Assistant…  just answer yes/no when going through the process so that your complaint can be directed to the right place.)   You can also contact the FTC directly:

Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington DC 20580
(877) 382-4357
www.ftc.gov

The Federal Reserve Board

The Federal Reserve Board handles complaints and regulates state-chartered banks and trusts. The agency also administers Truth-in-Lending, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act.  You can submit your complaint by completing the Federal Reserve Board Online Complaint Form.  You can also download the form and submit it to the Federal Reserve Board by mail or fax:

Federal Reserve Consumer Help
PO Box 1200, Minneapolis, MN 55480
Fax: 877-888-2520

Division of Consumer and
Community Affairs
(202) 452-3693
www.federalreserve.gov

National Credit Union Administration

The National Credit Union Administration handles complaints about National Credit Unions. For Federal Credit Union (a credit union with the word “federal” contained in its name or any credit union in Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming or Washington, DC), NCUA is the regulator.   You can file a formal complaint by sending the NCUA a letter – no special form is required – to the NCUA regional office for your state.  Find the NCUA regional office for your state by clicking here.

National Credit Union
Administration
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria VA 22314-3428
(703) 518-6300
www.ncua.gov

State charted Credit Union:  A credit union without the word “federal” as part of its name and not located in Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming or Washington, DC, is probably regulated by a  state supervisory authority where the credit union’s main branch is located.  If your complaint is about a state-chartered credit union, you can find the appropriate contact information to make a complaint by clicking here. 

If you’re not sure if your credit union is state or federal, you can use the Find a Credit Union (link) to search by name and look up the credit union’s charter number.  Federal credit unions have charter numbers under 60000, state-chartered credit unions have charter numbers greater than 60000.

Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs handles complaints about loans guaranteed by Veterans Affairs.  Contact the VA Regional Loan Center by clicking here. 

Department of Veterans Affairs
Consumer Affairs Service
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20420
(202) 273-5770
www.va.gov Handles complaints about loans guaranteed by Veterans Affairs.