How to read CFPB consumer complaints

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Consumers now have a critical tool with which to educate and empower themselves in the financial marketplace.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) public complaint database now features first-hand information from real users of financial services. You can search by company or keyword to learn about other consumer's experiences with particular products or services before making a financial commitment.

Those who file complaints can choose whether or not to share their complaint details (Personal details are removed.)

The CFPB has made it easy to search the complaint stories (called "narratives") by major financial product, such as bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, etc. If you're willing to dive deeper, you can search by a whole host of criteria, including company name, problem, keyword, location and more.

To view the complaint narratives:

• Visit the CFPB complaint database.
• Scroll down until you see a row of icons (image below) and click on the one you are interested in. This allows you to view complaints by category (debt collection, car loan, mortgage, credit reports, etc.)

 

• Click the link See......complaint data to view more stories in that category. You'll land on a page with the appearance of a spreadsheet (see image below). Scroll down and click on the arrows at the bottom of each page to read more stories in that category.

Return to the CFPB complaint database to choose another category (icon) and repeat the steps.

When in spreadsheet view, you have additional sorting options.

• Click on Company tab (upper right) to narrow the search. (If you can't find the Company tab, scroll to the right to allow your browser window to show it.)
• Filter this column to select a company's name
• Click on State or any other tab to filter further or type keywords (searchable terms).
• For advanced users, you can use the search box (upper right) to narrow the search. (The search box says Find in this Dataset.) Advanced users can apply advanced filters and save and export data as well, using the tools on the far right.

The CFPB wants your feedback on how to make this new tool as easy to use as possible. You can write to the Bureau at the Tell Your Story section of its website.

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Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Consumer Action focuses on consumer education that empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change.

By providing consumer education materials in multiple languages, a free national hotline, a comprehensive website (www.consumer-action.org) and annual surveys of financial and consumer services, Consumer Action helps consumers assert their rights in the marketplace and make financially savvy choices. Nearly 7,500 community and grassroots organizations benefit annually from its extensive outreach programs, training materials and support.