Founded in 2011, the CFPB or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an in-house agency that comes under the purview of the United States government. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the primary task of the CFPB is to ensure consumer protection, especially in the financial sector. Hence, all US banks, securities firms, credit unions, mortgage operations, payday lenders, debt collectors and other companies carrying out financial operations, come under the jurisdiction of the CFPB.
If you are facing issues with any financial organisation that’s based in the United States, and want to resolve the same in the swiftest manner possible, then the CFPB can assist you with the same. All you have to do is to file a complaint with the CFPB and they’ll take care of the rest.
Complaints to the CFPB can be filed in the following fields: mortgages, student loans, bank accounts/services, debt collection, payday loans, credit cards, credit reporting, money transfers, vehicle and other consumer loans.
Steps to File a Complaint With CFPB
- To file a complaint, you have to head over to the CFPB’s official complaint filing webpage. But, before you file a complaint with the CFPB, it’s recommended that you gather as much information you can pertaining the issue. This is because you cannot submit a complaint the second time on the same problem. Hence, you have to gather details describing the scenario, including the names of the people involved and the steps taken by you to resolve the problem. Furthermore, you have to keep your documents handy, such as your received/sent letters to/from the disputing company(s), email conversations and billing statements. All of the aforementioned documents will help in supporting your case.
- Once you’ve done collecting the required documents, you have to choose a specific category for your complaint, using the CFPB’s online assistant. The assistant will ask you several MCQ-based questions and by answering all of them, you’ll be able to correctly find your preferred complaint category.
- Once you’ve chosen a specific category, you also have to select a sub-category. For instance, if you’re choosing ‘credit reporting’ as the primary category, then your sub-categories can be credit score or credit report.
- After that, you have to help the CFPB identify the issue that you’re facing. For instance, in case of any problem with the sub-category ‘credit report’, you can choose the type of problem to be ‘incorrect information in the credit report’. Moreover, you have to be specific about the incorrect information. For example, the incorrect information can be incorrect account statuses or incorrect account information. Additionally, you also need to let the CFPB know that you’ve already contacted the respective company for fixing the said issue.
- You will have to describe your issue in detail, such as telling CFPB your side of the story including all associated amounts, dates and actions that have been taken so far. Besides, you also have to attach all the supporting documents along with your complaint. Ensure that you name the company(s) that is involved along with the people that are involved. Lastly, proceed to review your complaint and then submit the same.
Alternatively, if you’re not willing to file your complaint online, then you can call the CFPB at 855-411-CFPB (2372). Working hours are weekdays (Monday to Friday), between 8 AM and 8 PM (Eastern Time). The CFPB call centres are equipped with staff that can speak in over 180 languages, including helping consumers who are suffering from disabilities such as hearing loss or facing difficulty in speaking.
What Happens After Filing a Complaint
Once the consumer complaint gets submitted, the CFPB will forward the same to the defending company(s), against which the complaint was filed. However, before responding to the CFPB, the defending company(s) may contact you for confirming the transaction.
Within the subsequent fifteen days, your complaint will be reviewed by the company(s) and a response as to how your problem will be addressed, will be recorded. In case the company(s) can’t provide a solution within the allotted fifteen days, then a maximum time of sixty days will be given to the company.
Additionally, your complaint will be published by the CFPB in its database and once you review the company’s response, you’ll have sixty days to offer feedback as to how the company(s) handled your issue to the CFPB.
