WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is ending publication of consumer complaint narratives and related visualizations in its public database, reducing public access to company-specific allegations that the agency says are unverified and can provide a misleading picture of financial firms’ legal compliance.
The CFPB will continue collecting, monitoring and responding to consumer complaints, meaning the change affects how complaint information is publicly presented rather than the underlying complaint process.
The agency said publishing individual narratives was discretionary and isn’t required by its statutory authorities. Consumer allegations submitted through the complaint process aren’t independently verified by the CFPB and don’t necessarily describe violations of federal law.
The decision changes a public-facing component of the Consumer Complaint Database that allowed consumers, researchers and others to review written accounts submitted by people reporting problems with financial products and services.
The CFPB argued that the narratives inherently represent one side of disputes and constitute a sample weighted toward negative consumer experiences. It said displaying those accounts alongside data visualizations could lead consumers to draw conclusions about companies that the complaint process itself doesn’t establish.
The agency also cited reputational consequences for businesses as a reason for ending publication, saying unverified narratives can “needlessly” harm companies.
Previously published complaint narratives won’t disappear entirely from government disclosure channels.
The CFPB considers those records to be in the public domain for Freedom of Information Act purposes and is moving them to its FOIA Reading Room, where they will continue to be proactively disclosed.
The agency said the approach more closely resembles the Federal Trade Commission’s treatment of similar information.
The CFPB will also continue assessing whether companies provide complete, accurate and timely responses to complaints. Complaint information will continue to be shared securely with prudential regulators, the FTC and other federal and state agencies.
Certain complaint data will remain obtainable through FOIA requests.
The policy shifts the CFPB’s approach to transparency around consumer allegations by separating its continued regulatory use of complaint information from broad publication of individual, unverified accounts.
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