The CFPB has announced that its complaint system has begun taking complaints about credit reports. The issues a consumer can select to describe his or her complaint are: (1) incorrect information on the consumer’s credit report, (2) a consumer reporting agency’s investigation, (3) improper use of a credit report, (4) inability to obtain a credit report or credit score, and (5) problems with credit monitoring or identity protection services.
This expansion of the CFPB’s complaint system will not only impact consumer reporting agencies who are the subject of complaints, and in particular, those consumer reporting agencies that will be examined by the CFPB as larger participants, but will also impact banks and other companies that report to such agencies or use consumer reports. (Last month, the CFPB released its examination procedures for consumer reporting agencies.)
Complaints about bank or other companies could result in targeted CFPB examinations of Fair Credit Reporting Act compliance and/or CFPB enforcement activity. In addition, such complaints could be referred by the CFPB to other federal regulators or state regulators.