Submit a complaint | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2024)

See how the complaint process works

Watch this short video to find out what to include in your complaint and what will happen after you submit.

Submit a complaint | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (1)

Find answers before you start a complaint

We currently accept complaints about:

  • Checking and savings accounts
  • Credit cards
  • Credit reports and other personal consumer reports
  • Debt collection
  • Debt and credit management
  • Money transfers, virtual currency, and money services
  • Mortgages
  • Payday loans
  • Personal loans like installment, advance, and title loans
  • Prepaid cards
  • Student loans
  • Vehicle loans or leases

If you don't see the product or service you want to complain about listed, check out usa.gov to find other places to submit complaints. It includes ways to submit complaints about phone, internet, and cable companies as well as companies that sell other products and services and more.

If you think you’ve been a victim of scam, there are a few important steps you should take right away.

Have you tried reaching out to the company? Companies can usually answer questions unique to your situation and more specific to the products and services they offer.

Or, you can search for answers to consumers’ most frequently asked financial questions.

You generally can’t submit a second complaint about the same problem, so include this information to help the company respond to your complaint.

Key facts in your own words

  • Be clear and concise about the problem you’re having
  • Include only the most important dates, amounts, and communications you’ve had with the company

Documents

  • Attach documents that support the facts like account statements and communications with the company. Limit: 50 pages
  • If you’re submitting for someone else, note that companies generally require signed, written authorization provided directly by their customer before responding to someone other than their customer. If you have written authorization, consider attaching it.

Company you're complaining about

  • Select a company from the list in the form. We will forward your complaint directly to this company and ask for a response.
  • If you don’t see the company, provide complete contact information for the company. If we can’t send the complaint to that company, we’ll let you know what you can do next.

Your contact information

  • You will need to provide your name, email, and phone number to create your secure account.
  • You will need to provide your address. Without this, the company won't be able to respond to your complaint.
  • If you are submitting for someone else, you must disclose your relationship to the consumer and that you are submitting a complaint on their behalf.

Your complaint goes through several steps that help you get a response and help us identify problems in the marketplace.

1. Complaint submitted

You submit a complaint, or another government agency forwards your complaint to us. You will receive email updates and can check the status of your complaint.

2. Route

We'll send your complaint directly to the company so it can review the issues in your complaint. If we find that another government agency would be better able to assist, we will send your complaint to them and let you know.

3. Company response

The company will communicate with you as needed and respond to the issues in your complaint. Companies generally respond in 15 days. In some cases, the company will let you know their response is in progress and provide a final response in 60 days.

4. Complaint published

We publish information about your complaint (without information that directly identifies you) in our public Consumer Complaint Database. With your consent we also publish your description of what happened, after taking steps to remove personal information. Learn more about how we share complaint data.

5. Consumer review

We will let you know when the company responds. You’ll be able to review the company’s response and will have 60 days to provide feedback about the company's response.

If you suspect a scam, there are a few important steps you should take right away.

  1. Contact your local police or sheriff’s office to report the scam.
  2. Contact your state attorney general. Visit the National Association of Attorneys General website for the contact information of each state attorney general.
  3. If the victim is an older person or a person with a disability, contact your local adult protective services agency. You can find your state or local agency that receives and investigates reports of suspected elder financial exploitation by using the online Eldercare Locator or calling (800) 677-1116.
  4. If you or someone you care about is the victim of a fraud, scam or financial exploitation, you can report the fraud or scam to the Federal Trade Commission.

Because all scams are different, you might have to reach out to a number of other local, state, and federal agencies depending on your situation.

Ready to begin?

Submitting online usually takes less than 10 minutes. Include everything you need to because you generally can’t submit a second complaint about the same problem.

Start a new complaint

  • Learn more about how we share your complaint data
  • If you've already submitted a complaint, you can check the status of your complaint.

Witness a violation while working for a company?

You can report a tip to us, through a separate process if you are a current or former employee of a company that has violated federal consumer financial laws or if you are an industry insider who knows about such a company.

Alert us of a potential violation

Submit a complaint | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2024)

FAQs

Is it worth filing a complaint to CFPB? ›

If you're having issues with a financial service provider – be it with overdraft fees, a HELOC or student loans – filing a complaint with the CFPB can help you get to a resolution. It may be worth attempting to work the problem out with the company first, but that isn't a requirement to submit a CFPB complaint.

What does a CFPB complaint do? ›

Consistent with applicable law, we share your complaint with certain state and federal agencies to, among other things, facilitate: supervision of companies, enforcement activities, and. monitoring of the market for consumer financial products and services.

How do I file a complaint with the FDIC? ›

In order for the FDIC to investigate your concerns, you must submit specific details regarding the incident in writing. You can submit your complaint or inquiry online at the FDIC Information and Support Center at https://ask.fdic.gov/fdicinformationandsupportcenter/s/.

What can the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau do? ›

The functions of the CFPB to assist people in borrowing money or using other financial services include: implementing and enforcing Federal consumer financial laws; reviewing business practices to ensure that financial services providers are following the law; monitoring the marketplace and taking appropriate action to ...

Do banks respond to CFPB complaints? ›

Congress directed the Bureau to collect, monitor, and get responses to complaints about financial products and services. Since 2011, the CFPB's Office of Consumer Response has worked to get consumers timely responses from more than 6,100 financial companies.

When should I contact CFPB? ›

Having a problem with a financial product or service? We help consumers connect with financial companies to understand issues, fix errors, and get direct responses about problems. Tell us about your issue—we'll forward it to the company and work to get you a response, generally within 15 days.

Who holds banks accountable? ›

The regulatory agencies primarily responsible for supervising the internal operations of commercial banks and administering the state and federal banking laws applicable to commercial banks in the United States include the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the FDIC and the ...

What are the levels of violations for the FDIC? ›

Violations are categorized as Level 3/High Severity, Level 2/Medium Severity, and Level 1/Low Severity. Only violations at Levels 3 and 2 that are of high or medium severity are discussed in this section of the ROE. Level 1 violations will not be mentioned in the examiner's comments and conclusions pages of the ROE.

How do I complain about a bank in the USA? ›

We recommend the following options:
  1. Contact your bank directly first. ...
  2. Visit HelpWithMyBank.gov where you will find answers to frequently asked questions and other resources.
  3. Fill out the Online Customer Complaint Form.

Does the CFPB have any power? ›

We have supervisory authority over banks, thrifts, and credit unions with assets over $10 billion, as well as their affiliates. The depository institutions and affiliates included in the list below are currently under CFPB's jurisdiction and subject to CFPB supervision and examination.

Why is CFPB controversial? ›

Republicans and financial industry critics, many of whom have opposed the bureau since its inception, have long argued that the funding scheme allows the agency to escape accountability. They see the agency as an out-of-control regulator with too broad a purview and too few checks on its power.

Who falls under CFPB? ›

CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors, for-profit colleges, and other financial companies operating in the United States.

Is the CFPB necessary? ›

The CFPB helps ensure the financial market is a level playing field by cracking down on bad financial actors that engage in unfair, deceptive, abusive, and discriminatory practices that harm consumers.

What are the criticism of the CFPB? ›

“The CFPB is directly overstepping its bounds and serving as judge, jury, and executioner in the consumer financial marketplace.” “That's why Committee Republicans advanced a package of bills to reform the structure and funding stream of the CFPB to ensure transparency and accountability to the American people.

What happens when you submit a complaint to the Better business Bureau? ›

If your complaint meets our complaint acceptance criteria, your complaint will be sent to the business within approximately two business days. The business will be asked to respond within 14 calendar days. You will be notified of the business's response when we receive it (or notified that we received no response).

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