pc
nid 93498
Jun 24, 2026
ataylor@vixio.com
US Track 1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
financial services
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2237 charsConsumer Financial Protection Bureau Corrects Consumer Complaint Portal System Integrity and Effectiveness
On June 24, 2026, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced multiple concrete actions to address longstanding flaws in its consumer complaint portal system. The CFPB stated that the portal has been plagued by issues severely limiting its effectiveness in addressing consumer complaints and the practical utility of complaint data.
Credit reporting complaints represent the largest share of all complaints submitted to the CFPB. Complaint volume increased dramatically, from more than 150,000 credit or consumer reporting complaints in 2019 to more than five million in 2025—an increase of more than 3,700 percent. The CFPB identified multiple factors driving this surge, including credit repair organizations misusing the complaint process, social media influencers encouraging followers to submit complaints, adoption of artificial intelligence tools, and new businesses seeking to boost credit scores by disputing accurate information. The CFPB stated that without addressing these issues, it cannot rely upon complaint portal data as a reliable reflection of actual market conditions or consumer experiences.
The CFPB is implementing six key changes. First, it issued a new Company Portal Manual providing clear guidance on closure categories to standardize data across credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Second, the CFPB launched two-factor authentication and plans to implement address validation to enhance identity protections. Third, it is aligning the complaint process to statutory obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by requiring consumers to exhaust dispute rights directly with consumer reporting agencies before submitting complaints to the CFPB. Fourth, the CFPB is collaborating with agencies to provide greater specificity on administrative response categories. Fifth, it is developing educational resources highlighting costs and risks of credit repair services. Finally, the CFPB is building application programming interfaces (APIs) to more efficiently share complaint information with companies and is redefining operational categories, distinguishing complaints awaiting action for more than 30 calendar days as backlog from routine work in progress.
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2489 charsUS Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Updates Consumer Complaint System
On June 24, 2026, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a series of steps it is taking to correct flaws to restore integrity and utility to the consumer complaint system.
According to the press release announcing the changes, the CFPB found that the consumer complaint system was being abused by credit repair organizations, social media influencers, and AI tools, while the nationwide consumer reporting agencies (NCRAs), were not uniformly reporting how they respond to the growing number of complaints. The CFPB is now standardizing processes, enhancing identity protections, and aligning the system with statutory obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Key actions announced by the CFPB include:
Standardized complaint closure definitions: The CFPB issued a new Company Portal Manual providing clear guidance on how consumer reporting agencies should use response closure categories. This aims to ensure consistent data reporting across CRAs.
Enhanced identity protections: The CFPB launched two-factor authentication for online accounts, requiring users who create online accounts to verify both their email address and mobile phone number. It also added clarifying text and new relationship categories to emphasize that third parties must disclose their involvement in the complaint process.
Alignment with FCRA dispute obligations: The CFPB is aligning its complaint process to the FCRA statutory obligations. It added a notice, emphasizing that consumers must first exhaust their dispute rights directly with consumer reporting agencies before coming to the CFPB. The CFPB is also exploring adding an additional administrative response option so NCRAs can efficiently return complaints where the consumer has not exhausted their FCRA dispute obligations.
Focus on substantive complaints and system efficiency: The CFPB is collaborating with NCRAs to clarify when to use administrative response categories and is exploring additional response categories, such as when a user appears to be abusing the complaint process. The CFPB is also implementing API technology to more efficiently share complaint information with companies.
Defining Operational Categories : The CFPB is distinguishing routine work from complaints in the existing backlog to help ensure the CFPB can prioritize its work effectively and provide timely responses to consumers.
The CFPB will continue to work with consumer reporting agencies to implement these reforms.