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CFPB Asks For Comments on Enhanced Consumer Complaint Database

mixed-numbersThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a request for information regarding its consumer complaint database after going live with an enhanced version of the database last week, according to the CFPB.

The CFPB's new enhanced public-facing consumer complaint database, which went live on June 25, included more than 7,700 accounts of complaints that consumers have had with financial companies with regards to the way their mortgages, accounts, credit cards, debt collection, and other services are handled. The Bureau published the request for information to determine whether there are ways to help the public more easily understand the information presented in the database and how consumers can compare the information the database contains.

"In an effort to continue dialogue on easier ways to compare complaint handling performance, the Bureau requests specific suggestions from market participants, consumers, and other stakeholders on data normalization and its proper implementation within the database," CFPB said in the request for information.

The Bureau reported as of June 1, 2015, it has handled more than 627,000 complaints from the time it opened its doors in July 2011. According to the CFPB, about 28 percent of those complaints have been mortgage-related, making it the category with the largest share (debt collection was second with 25 percent). The Bureau says it forwards the complaints to companies and works to get a response, typically within 15 days.

The CFPB launched its Consumer Complaint Database in June 2012. At that time, the database included basic individual-level information about the complaints such as the date the complaint was submitted, the issue, the company being complained about, the type of product, and how the company handled the complaint. The consumer who submitted the complaint remained anonymous, though their ZIP code was included.

The Bureau finalized a policy in March 2015 allowing consumers to publicly share their narratives when submitting complaints to the database. More than half of the complaints received have been shared publicly since the CFPB finalized the policy. The publishing of consumer narratives from the complaint database has been highly controversial; financial companies, including many mortgage servicers and banks, expressed concern that the Bureau was publishing one-sided, unverified information that may be damaging to companies' reputation.

"The purpose of this request for information is to solicit and collect input from the public on how data are presented in the database," the CFPB said in the request for information. "The Bureau is requesting feedback on best practices for 'normalizing' the raw complaint data it makes available via the database so they are easier for the public to use and understand. To normalize data is to transform 'raw' data so that they may be compared in meaningful ways. This transformation increases the interoperability of 'raw' data—that is, the extent to which different users can share and make use of the data because they have a common understanding of its meaning."

In order to provide more context and insight to the complaints received, The Five Star Institute and Black Knight Financial Services released a report titled Analysis and Study of CFPB Consumer Complaint Data Related to Mortgage Servicing Activities in April. In the report, Black Knight and Five Star compared the Bureau's two predominant mortgage complaint categories – servicing and default – with loan trends, and also included publicly available data from both the CFPB and mortgage servicers as reported from the CFPB database.

Click here to read the full request for information. To submit comments electronically, click here. Comments submitted through the mail should be addressed to Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, D.C., 2006. The consumer complaint database can be accessed by clicking here.

Editor's note: The Five Star Institute is the parent company of DS News and DSnews.com.

About Author: Brian Honea

Brian Honea's writing and editing career spans nearly two decades across many forms of media. He served as sports editor for two suburban newspaper chains in the DFW area and has freelanced for such publications as the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Dallas Home Improvement magazine, and the Dallas Morning News. He has written four non-fiction sports books, the latest of which, The Life of Coach Chuck Curtis, was published by the TCU Press in December 2014. A lifelong Texan, Brian received his master's degree from Amberton University in Garland.
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