Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
Consumer Complaints and Assistance

• Mortgage and Lender Complaints: Federal and State Regulatory Agencies
• Sample Lender Complaint Letter
• File a Complaint: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
• File a Complaint: The Federal Reserve Board
• File a Complaint: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
• File a Complaint: Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
• File a Complaint: National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
• File a Complaint: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• File a Complaint: Farm Credit Administration (FCA)
• File a Complaint: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

savings and loan complaints associations Office of Thrift Supervision OTS

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), a federal government agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, regulates savings associations insured by the federal Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) as well as federally-chartered savings banks (FSBs).

If you have a complaint, you should try first to resolve it directly by contacting an officer of the savings association, a senior manager, or the association's consumer affairs representative. Communicating directly with the association is usually the fastest approach. Savings associations value consumers and should be responsive to your concerns.

If you are unable to resolve your complaint directly, you may contact the OTS, which is responsible for ensuring that the association complies with federal consumer protection laws.

How to File a Complaint

To request assistance from the OTS, a complaint must be in writing and must contain the consumer's signature. No special form is needed. Your correspondence should be sent to the appropriate regional office for your state (see below) and contain the following information:

• Your name, home address, e-mail address, telephone number, in addition to your signature and date the complaint is submitted to the OTS
• The association's full name and address
• The city and state of the association's home office will also be helpful, since that determines the association's supervisory region
• Type of account involved in the complaint - checking, savings, certificate of deposit, money market or loan - and account numbers, if applicable
• Description of the complaint, including specific dates and the association's actions; copies of related documents or correspondence are also helpful
• Dates of contact and, if possible, the names of individuals contacted at the association with their responses

What Will OTS Do?

OTS will assign a case number to your complaint and send you an acknowledgment that provides your case number. Your letter will be reviewed by the consumer affairs staff, who will normally send your letter to the savings association you have named. This enables the savings association to compile information and records in response to your letter. If additional information is needed, OTS may contact you by telephone or in writing. If you have questions regarding the resolution of your complaint, it is helpful to identify your case number when you contact the OTS regional office.

The savings association should address the issues raised in your complaint and provide a written response to OTS upon the completion of its internal investigation. In most cases the institution will respond to you directly. OTS regional staff will analyze the association’s response to ensure that your concerns have been addressed. OTS will attempt to resolve your complaint within 60 days, unless additional time is required to complete the investigation.

OTS reviews all complaints to ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations against discrimination in lending and takes additional investigative steps for such complaints. Complaints alleging discrimination in housing finance that are covered by the Fair Housing Act are also shared with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

If the review indicates your complaint involved a violation of Federal consumer laws or regulations, OTS will inform you of any pertinent corrective action the savings association has been directed to take. However, OTS does not have authority to adjudicate contractual disputes or undocumented factual disputes between a customer and a savings association. OTS also does not have authority to resolve disagreements pertaining to savings association policies and procedures that are a matter of management discretion and are not addressed by OTS regulations. In such cases, if the association does not make a voluntary adjustment, OTS will usually advise you to consider obtaining legal counsel regarding your rights to resolve the situation.

Regional OTS Consumer Affairs Offices

You may also contact the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington, D.C. using its toll-free consumer number
1-800-842-6929 (TTY 1-800-877-8339), or by email: consumer.complaint@ots.treas.gov

For further information, visit OTS's website.

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