In a recent blog post, the CFPB announced that it has started sharing consumer complaint data with local governments through its Government Portal.  The Government Portal gives local, state, and federal government agencies access to more granular information about consumers’ complaints and companies’ responses than the public is able to view through the CFPB’s public-facing Consumer Complaint Database. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has released its first in-depth report analyzing complaint submission patterns throughout the credit life cycle, by demographic characteristics.

The findings are based on the approximately 1 million consumer complaints that were submitted to the CFPB between 2018 and 2020. To prepare the report, the CFPB matched address information from complaints to census tracts. … Continue Reading

We first review recent studies finding racial disparities in connection with consumer complaints and look at the methodology used for those studies and its limitations.  We then discuss how the CFPB uses complaint data, the risks faced by companies that are the subject of complaints, and the key components of an effective complaint management system that companies should have in place.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced a number of “enhancements” to its consumer complaint database.  In March 2018, the CFPB issued a request for information seeking comment on potential changes to its practices for the public reporting of consumer complaint information.  (The RFI was one of twelve RFIs issued under former Acting Director Mulvaney’s leadership that sought information on various topics.) … Continue Reading

The Office of Inspector General for the CFPB (and the Fed) recently issued a report on its evaluation of the Office of Consumer Response’s sharing of complaint data within the CFPB.

As background, the report describes the tools available to Bureau users of complaint data (complaint-sharing tools) to search such data, identify issues, and summarize data, and also describes Consumer Response’s process for approving access to these tools.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a “Complaint snapshot: 50 state report” that provides overall complaint data on a state-by-state basis.  The report includes the District of Columbia.  Last October, the CFPB issued a 50-state snapshot that was limited to student debt.

In its blog post about the report, the Bureau highlights that since January 2015:

  • The Bureau has received more complaints from consumers in California than any other state, with Florida, Texas, New York, and Georgia taking the next four spots.
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The CFPB has issued a new report, “Complaint snapshot: Debt collection,” which provides complaint data as of April 1, 2018.  The report represents the CFPB’s first complaint report since Mick Mulvaney was appointed Acting Director.  The CFPB’s last regular monthly complaint report was issued in May 2017 and provided complaint data as of April 1, 2017.  … Continue Reading

A group of 35 Democratic Senators have sent a letter to Mick Mulvaney and Leandra English urging the CFPB to continue to publicly disclose consumer complaint information.

In remarks last month at an American Bankers Association conference, CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is reported to have strongly criticized the CFPB’s policy of publicly disclosing consumer complaint information and suggested that the policy is likely to be discontinued. … Continue Reading

In remarks earlier this week at an American Bankers Association conference, CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is reported to have strongly criticized the CFPB’s policy of publicly disclosing consumer complaint information and suggested that the policy is likely to be discontinued.

As initially adopted, the CFPB’s policy statement on the disclosure of consumer complaints limited  the complaint data fields the CFPB would publicly disclose in its database to non-narrative fields such as the name of the company that is the subject of the complaint, the date the complaint was submitted to the CFPB and the date it was submitted to the company, the consumer’s zip code, the product type, the issue the consumer is complaining about by category, and whether or not the company provided relief. … Continue Reading