UWS Leads in Credit Card Complaints

When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began collecting complaints from credit card consumers their intended goal was to gauge moderate to low income family credit card concerns and decide on a plan of action to help. Needless to say they were rather surprised when the biggest uproar came from the high income families, particularly from Florida and our very own Upper West Side.

Bloomberg News reported last week that the Bureau began collecting credit card complaints July of 2011 with the intention of resolving the issues alongside financial companies. Since then complaints about mortgages, student loans, bank accounts and vehicle loans have been collected and evaluated by the Bureau as well.

While over 130,000 complaints have been received about all products, it is only the credit card complaints that are posted on the bureau's website. Aside from the anonymity of the complainant, most other information regarding the issue are available including the customer's zip code, the dispute in question, the method of resolve, and much to their dismay and protest the bank issuing the card.

Out of the 11,045 complaints issued from households earning an income above the median, 59.6 percent came from Florida and the Upper West Side. Boca Raton, Florida filed the most complaints in the country with 94. Two separate zip codes from the Upper West Side were responsible for an additional 54 complaints.

Police officers of the 20th precinct, which covers the Upper West Side, continually warn residents of the high rates of credit card fraud and identity theft in the neighborhood and urge people to take precautions with their personal and banking information.