CFPB Complaint Database to Remain Public, but Will Include Enhancements to Put Data into Context

Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that its consumer complaint database will remain published and accessible to the public. However, the Bureau plans to include certain enhancements to put the data into perspective, as a result of input from last year’s Request for Information regarding its controversial database (which, as mentioned in the current announcement, yielded almost 26,000 comments).

The enhancements will include certain front-end information for consumers before submitting their complaints. Such information includes answers to common financial questions as well as information about how to contact the company directly to answer specific questions.

For users of the database, the Bureau plans to provide information and disclosures that help put the complaint data in context. For example, the database will “more prominently display disclosures making it clear that the Consumer Complaint Database is not a statistical sample of consumers’ experiences in the marketplace.”