Published: April 2018

Consumer groups stand up to threats to take complaint database dark

Consumer, privacy, civil rights and fair lending groups from across the nation called on temporary, Acting Director Mick Mulvaney today to retain availability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) complaint tool after recent threats to ban public access to the public complaint database.

In a letter today, the groups representing consumers urged the interim director to stop pre-judging the benefits of the complaint database before evaluating all formal feedback that he has requested. Mulvaney has issued a dozen formal Requests for Information (RFIs), in an effort to dismantle the consumer bureau from within. Two of the 12 RFIs are devoted to the public complaint database.  

The CFPB’s consumer complaint database helps to empower consumers to inform and protect themselves in the marketplace by holding businesses accountable. Consumers can report a problem or review and analyze financial complaints directly from users. Even companies privately admit that the consumer complaint database has driven them to improve customer service and create better outcomes for consumers and companies.

Lead Organization

Consumer Action

Other Organizations

Americans for Financial Reform | Allied Progress | American Federation of Teachers | California Reinvestment Coalition | CASH Campaign of Maryland | Center for NYC Neighborhoods | Center for Responsible Lending | Connecticut Fair Housing Center | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | Consumers Union | Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council | Electronic Privacy Information Center | Empire Justice Center | Generation Progress | Higher Ed, Not Debt | Holland Law Firm | Main Street Alliance | Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition | Montana Organizing Project | NAACP | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys | National Community Reinvestment Coalition | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients) | National Consumers League | National Fair Housing Alliance | National Student Legal Defense Network | New Jersey Citizen Action | New Yorkers for Responsible Lending | Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts | Public Citizen | Public Justice | Reinvestment Partners | Tennessee Citizen Action | The Institute for College Access & Success | U.S. PIRG | Veterans Education Success | Woodstock Institute | World Privacy Forum | Young Invincibles

More Information

To read the letter in full, click here.

For more information, please visit Consumer Action.

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