Two developments on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau front arose this week. First, the CFPB shared its monthly complaint database update. Then, another U.S. House committee took a swing a changing how the bureau operates.

For its May update, the CFPB drilled deeper into complaints that often involve both finance companies and buy-here, pay-here dealerships: credit reporting. Since the CFPB began accepting credit reporting complaints in October 2012, the bureau has handled approximately 143,700 such complaints.

Some of the findings from the bureau’s deeper analysis of this part of its complaint database included:

• Consumers complain about incorrect information on credit reports: The CFPB said more than three quarters of credit reporting complaints — 77 percent — submitted to the bureau by consumers are related to incorrect information appearing on their reports. Frequently, these complaints are about a debt collection item that has been paid but appears as an unpaid debt on the report, a debt that is not recognized by the consumer, or a debt that is no longer due because it has passed the point of being enforceable in court.

• Consumers report difficulty disputing inaccuracies: The bureau noted consumers consistently report difficulties disputing inaccuracies on their credit report. Consumers complained about experiencing long delays trying to speak to a representative at the consumer reporting company that created the report or the company that furnished the information. Other consumers complained of negative customer service experiences when they were able to get through to a representative.

• High-volume complaint companies: Out of all credit reporting complaints submitted to the bureau between December 2015 and February 2016, officials indicated 95 percent involved the three nationwide credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Some of these complaints are related to information companies furnished to the credit reporting companies.

• Specialty consumer reporting companies: In addition to complaints against the three nationwide credit reporting companies, the CFPB determined consumers have submitted more than 2,000 complaints regarding specialty consumer reporting companies. These companies specialize in providing reports in areas including background and employment screening, checking account screening, rental screening and insurance screening.

“Credit reports are the foundation of consumers’ financial lives,” CFPB director Richard Cordray said. “Consumers continue to express their frustration about inaccurate information on their credit reports and difficulty in getting these errors fixed.

“We will continue to work to ensure that credit report disputes are investigated, errors are fixed, and consumers are treated fairly,” Cordray continued.

National CFPB complaint overview

As of May 1, 2016, the CFPB said it has handled 882,800 complaints nationally. Some noteworthy trends from the latest data included:

• Complaint volume: For April, the most-complained-about financial product or service was debt collection. Of the 23,870 complaints handled in April, approximately 7,330 of them were about debt collection. The second most-complained-about consumer product was credit reporting, which accounted for approximately 4,587 complaints. The third most-complained-about financial product or service was mortgages, accounting for approximately 4,347 complaints. These three products accounted for about 68 percent of complaints submitted in April.

• Product trends: In a year-to-year comparison examining the three-month time period of February to April vs. the same time period 12 months before, the CFPB noted student loan complaints showed the greatest increase — 48 percent — of any product or service. The bureau received 669 student loan complaints between February and April of last year, while it received 992 complaints during the same time period this year.

• State information: New Mexico, Minnesota and Indiana experienced the greatest year-to-year complaint volume increases from the February to April 2016 period versus the same time period 12 months before, with New Mexico up 41 percent, Minnesota up 33 percent, and Indiana up 26 percent.

• Most-complained-about companies: The top three companies that received the most complaints from December 2015 through February 2016 were credit reporting companies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Latest House action

The House Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, which provides annual funding for the Treasury Department, the Judiciary, the Small Business Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other related agencies.

The bill includes a provision to increase oversight over the CFPB by bringing funding for the agency under the annual congressional appropriations process, instead of direct funding from the Federal Reserve. Lawmakers explained this change would allow for increased accountability and transparency of the agency’s activities and use of tax dollars.

The legislation also would change the leadership structure of the CFPB from a single director to a five-member commission, and requires the CFPB to study the use of pre-dispute arbitration prior to issuing regulations.