Home Equity Loans - More Information
Filing a complaint against a lender.
General complaints
If you think your lender has violated the law,
contact a private attorney, your state's
Attorney General's office or banking
regulatory agency, or the Federal Trade Commission.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works for the
consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices
in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers
spot, stop and avoid them.
To file a complaint
or to get free
information on consumer credit issues, visit http://www.ftc.gov/ or call toll-free,
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters
Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer
Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of
civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
If you suspect discrimination.
Take action if you think you’ve been discriminated
against. Complain to the lender. Sometimes you can persuade the
lender to reconsider your application. Check with your
state Attorney General’s office to see if the creditor violated
state laws. Many states have their own equal credit opportunity
laws.
Contact a local private fair housing group and
report violations to the appropriate government agency. If your
mortgage application is denied, the lender must give you the name
and address of the agency to contact.
Consider suing the lender in federal district court.
If you win, you can recover your actual damages and be awarded punitive
damages if the court finds that the lender’s conduct was willful.
You also may recover reasonable lawyers’ fees and court costs. You
also might consider joining with others to file a class action suit.
A number of federal agencies share enforcement responsibility for
the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA).
Determining which agency to contact depends, in part, on the type
of financial institution you dealt with.
For violations of the FHA:
Office
of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
US Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), Room 5204
Washington, DC 20410-2000
Toll-free hotline: 1-800-424-8590
TDD: 1-800-543-8294
You have one year to file a complaint with HUD,
but you should file as soon as possible. Your complaint to HUD should
include:
- Your name and address;
- The name and address of the person
or company who is the subject of the complaint;
- The address or other identification
of the housing involved;
- A short description of the facts
that caused you to believe your rights were violated; and
- The dates of the alleged violation.
HUD will notify you when it receives your complaint.
Normally, HUD also will:
- Notify the alleged violator of
your complaint and permit the person to submit an answer;
- Investigate your complaint and
determine whether there is a reasonable cause to believe the Fair
Housing Act has been violated; and
- Notify you if it cannot complete
an investigation within 100 days of receiving your complaint.
For violations of the ECOA and the FHA:
For nationally-charted banks:
Comptroller
of the Currency
Compliance Management
Mail Stop 7-5
Washington, DC
20219
For state-chartered banks insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, but not members of the Federal Reserve
System:
Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation
Consumer Affairs Division
Washington, DC
20429
For federally-chartered or federally-insured savings
and loans:
Office of Thrift
Supervision
Consumer Affairs Program
Washington, DC
20552
For federally-chartered credit unions:
National Credit
Union Administration
Consumer Affairs Division
Washington, DC
20456
For state member banks of the Federal Reserve System:
Consumer
and Community Affairs
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
20th & C Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20551
For discrimination complaints against all kinds
of creditors:
Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Washington, DC
20530
For ECOA violations involving mortgage and consumer
finance companies:
While the FTC generally does not intervene in individual
disputes, the information you provide may indicate a pattern of
violations requiring action by the Commission.
Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
Washington, DC 20580
202-326-2222; TDD: 1-866-653-4261
To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer credit
issues. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity
theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer
Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of
civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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