CFPB Consumer Complaint Profile

Essential Lending Inc

What 180 consumer complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reveal about how this company handles credit, billing and collection disputes.

180
Total complaints
89
Last 12 months
88.9%
Timely response
17
States affected

The verdict

Essential Lending Inc ranks #1004 of 3,848 financial companies by CFPB complaint volume, with 180 complaints on record. It answers 88.9% of complaints on time — below the 93% median for companies with 100+ complaints.

#1004
of 3,848 companies by volume
88.9%
answered on time
Credit reporting or …
most-complained product
17
states with complaints
Essential Lending Inc timely response rate 88.9%
Industry benchmark

Percent of CFPB complaints answered within the regulator's expected window. Industry benchmark sits at 95%.

Complaints by Product

Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting 41
Debt collection — I do not know 33
Debt collection — Payday loan debt 26
Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan 19
Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting 16
Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Payday loan 15
Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Payday loan 12
Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Installment loan 4
Debt collection — Other debt 3
Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Personal line of credit 3

Top Issues

1.Incorrect information on your report 34
2.Took or threatened to take negative or legal action 28
3.Attempts to collect debt not owed 18
4.Improper use of your report 14
5.Charged fees or interest you didn't expect 12
6.Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan 11
7.Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem 11
8.False statements or representation 9
9.Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem 6
10.Problem when making payments 4

Complaints by Year

Year Complaints
2016 1
2017 4
2018 4
2019 1
2020 4
2021 11
2022 14
2023 20
2024 24
2025 76
2026 21

Complaints by State (Top 15)

Texas 119
Louisiana 11
South Carolina 11
Missouri 10
New Mexico 4
Mississippi 4
Wisconsin 4
Delaware 3
District of Columbia 3
Utah 2
North Carolina 2
Pennsylvania 2
Indiana 1
Virginia 1
Idaho 1

Company Responses

Closed with explanation 172
Closed with monetary relief 5
Closed with non-monetary relief 3

What the CFPB Complaint Record Shows for Essential Lending Inc

The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database has logged 180 complaints against Essential Lending Inc overall, with 89 of those filed in the trailing 12 months. Reports have come from consumers in 17 states and territories, making this a multi-regional complaint footprint. The single largest complaint category is "Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports," which consistently leads the product-level breakdown and signals where consumer friction is most acute. Within that category, the most frequently cited specific issue is "Incorrect information on your report" — a useful starting point for anyone trying to understand what goes wrong most often in the company's consumer interactions.

Essential Lending Inc's timely response rate stands at 88.9%, meaning that share of CFPB-forwarded complaints received a company reply within the 15-day window the Bureau expects. That sits below the 95% industry benchmark and tends to correlate with higher consumer dispute rates downstream. Consumers formally disputed the company's response in 0% of resolved cases, a signal of how often the initial resolution failed to satisfy the complainant. Of complaints that were resolved, 4.4% closed with some form of monetary or non-monetary relief to the consumer.

Complaint counts alone do not tell the full story — larger institutions with more customers will naturally generate more complaints in absolute terms. The more informative signals are the direction of the yearly trend shown above, the state-level concentration (which hints at regional servicing issues or regulatory exposure), and the ratio of monetary-relief closures to closed-without-relief outcomes. Taken together, these fields give consumers a reasonable empirical basis for deciding whether to escalate a dispute, and give researchers a starting point for investigating institutional patterns.

Educational data summary, not financial or legal advice. Individual complaint outcomes vary. Consumers should consult a qualified attorney or financial advisor for guidance on a specific dispute.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many CFPB complaints does Essential Lending Inc have?

Essential Lending Inc has 180 total consumer complaints filed with the CFPB, with 89 filed in the last 12 months.

Does Essential Lending Inc respond to complaints on time?

Essential Lending Inc has a 88.9% timely response rate to CFPB complaints.

What product generates the most complaints for Essential Lending Inc?

The most complained-about product for Essential Lending Inc is "Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports." You can view the full product breakdown on this page.

What is the most common complaint issue with Essential Lending Inc?

The most common issue reported by consumers about Essential Lending Inc is "Incorrect information on your report." All complaint issues are listed above with their counts.

How do I file a complaint against Essential Lending Inc?

You can file a complaint against Essential Lending Inc directly with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB will forward your complaint to the company and work to get you a response, typically within 15 days.

In how many states have consumers complained about Essential Lending Inc?

Consumers in 17 states and territories have filed complaints about Essential Lending Inc with the CFPB.

Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Data through March 2026

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