Beginning now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), championed by the Obama Administration, will help consumers resolve issues such as incorrect information on credit reports, inability to get a credit report or credit score and problems with credit monitoring or identity protection services.
This is the first time a federal agency has been able to provide individual assistance to consumers with credit reporting issues. If you dispute information contained in a credit report, such as with Experian, Equifax and/or Transunion (and any other smaller credit reporting company), then the lender that provided the information and the credit bureau are required to conduct a reasonable investigation to determine its accuracy.
Before filing a complaint with CFPB you should first file a complaint directly with the credit reporting company in order to preserve your consumer rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If the response is not satisfactory then under the new process the consumer files a complaint directly with CFPB. When a complaint is filed the lender that provided the information and the credit reporting company are required to conduct a reasonable investigation to determine if it is accurate and if inaccurate, then correct it.
Up until now CFPB has been taking complaints about mortgages, bank accounts, consumer loans and private student loans.
When it gets a complaint, the bureau makes sure the consumer is a customer of the lender. It then forwards the complaint to the lender which has 15 days to make a response to CFPB. Lenders are expected to close complaints within 60 days.
CFBP has indicated that it will "prioritize for individual investigation" complaints that are not closed in a timely manner and resolutions that the consumer disputes.
The complaint can be submitted online at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, via telephone at toll free (855) 411-2372. via fax (855) 237-2392 or via U.S. Mail to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, P.O. Box 4503, Iowa City, IA 52244.
