The US Consumer Financial Protections Bureau (CFPB) will begin accepting complaints about deceptive or abusive financial products and services on July 21st in an effort to connect consumers with the help they need. Whether you find yourself on the wrong end of a deal with a credit card company, a check-cashing service, or a pay day loans business the bureau will listen to your complaints and direct you to the appropriate government agency.
The CFPB, which was created through last year’s Dodd-Frank Act, will be accepting complaints by phone, letter, email, or on its website. How the CFPB will ultimately handle the complaints is being closely scrutinized at this time. While nonprofit groups want full disclosure on all of the complaints made against companies banks and other financial institutions say that they want to keep the complaints as quiet as possible to protect them from trivial or malicious complaints.
Part of the reason the CFPB has been set up, is the fact that up until now, agencies could receive complaints, but had little power or incentive to push for changes. The CFPB will have the power to set and enforce rules on credit cards as well as mortgages and other consumer loans, and the ability to impose fines of as much as $1 million a day on companies that break consumer protection laws.
Of course there are several other ways consumers can file a complaint against a financial institution. Consumers can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, they can contact their state attorney general's office, or they can file a complaint with federal government regulators. The new system will simply be an easier way for people to get in touch with the right agency without being given the run around.
As always, stay tuned to Credit Cards Professor for more credit card news and updates.
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