83 FR 9499 - Request for Information Regarding Bureau Public Reporting Practices of Consumer Complaint Information

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 44 (March 6, 2018)

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist the Bureau in assessing potential changes that can be implemented to the Bureau's public reporting practices of consumer complaint information, consistent with law, to consider whether any changes to the practices would be appropriate.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9499-9501]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04544]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Docket No. CFPB-2 018-0006]


Request for Information Regarding Bureau Public Reporting 
Practices of Consumer Complaint Information

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is 
seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist the 
Bureau in assessing potential changes that can be implemented to the 
Bureau's public reporting practices of consumer complaint information, 
consistent with law, to consider whether any changes to the practices 
would be appropriate.

DATES: Comments must be received by June 4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments, 
identified by Docket No. CFPB-2018-0006, by any of the following 
methods:
     Electronic: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include Docket 
No. CFPB-2018-0006 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Comment Intake, Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake, Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
    Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of 
comments. All submissions must include the document title and docket 
number. Please note the number of the topic on which you are commenting 
at the top of each response (you do not need to address all topics). 
Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Bureau is 
subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments 
electronically. In general, all comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, comments 
will be available for public inspection and copying at 1700 G Street 
NW, Washington, DC 20552, on official business days between the hours 
of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern time. You can make an appointment to 
inspect the documents by telephoning 202-435-7275.
    All submissions in response to this request for information, 
including attachments and other supporting materials, will become part 
of the public record and subject to public disclosure. Proprietary 
information or sensitive personal information, such as account numbers 
or Social Security numbers, or names of other individuals, should not 
be included. Submissions will not be edited to remove any identifying 
or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darian Dorsey, Deputy Assistant 
Director, Office of Consumer Response, at 202-435-7268. If you require 
this document in an alternative electronic format, please contact 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An important aspect of the Bureau's mission 
is hearing directly from the American public about their experiences in 
the consumer financial marketplace. Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 5511(c)(2), 
``collecting, investigating, and responding to consumer complaints'' is 
one of the six statutory ``primary functions'' of the Bureau. Since it 
began collecting complaints in July 2011, the Bureau has published a 
variety of reports analyzing complaints and responses. Some of these 
reports are specifically required by the Act.\1\ Others are intended to 
meet the Bureau's objective of ensuring ``markets for consumer 
financial products and services operate transparently and efficiently 
to facilitate access and innovation.'' \2\
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    \1\ 12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)(C), 5496(c)(4).
    \2\ 12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(5).
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Reports Required by the Act

    The Act requires the Bureau to provide certain information to 
Congress

[[Page 9500]]

about complaints and responses. In particular, 12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)(C) 
requires the Bureau to report annually to Congress information and 
analysis about complaint numbers, types, and, where applicable, 
resolution. 12 U.S.C. 5496(c)(4) requires the Bureau to submit semi-
annual reports to the President and certain congressional committees 
covering a range of topics, including ``an analysis of complaints about 
consumer financial products or services that the Bureau has received 
and collected in its central database on complaints during the 
preceding year.'' \3\ To meet its statutory obligations, the Bureau 
publishes these reports, highlighting aggregated complaint information, 
including complaint volume over time, company closure categories, and 
product and issue breakdowns. Reports also include qualitative analyses 
of common issues and trends in complaints for consumer financial 
products and services.
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    \3\ In addition, 12 U.S.C. 5535(d)(1) directs the Private 
Education Loan Ombudsman--whose functions include reviewing and 
analyzing private education loan complaints--to ``prepare an annual 
report that describes the activities, and evaluates the 
effectiveness of the Ombudsman during the preceding year.''
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Monthly Complaint Reports

    In July 2015, the Bureau began publishing a series of monthly 
complaint reports to highlight trends from consumer complaints 
submitted to the Bureau. Monthly complaint reports include complaint 
data on complaint volume, most-complained-about companies, state and 
local information, and product trends. Each report highlights a 
particular product and geographic location and provides insight into 
the consumer complaints handled by the Bureau. The report uses three-
month rolling averages, comparing the current average to the same 
period in the prior year, where appropriate, to account for monthly and 
seasonal fluctuations. In some cases, month-to-month comparisons are 
used to highlight more immediate trends.

Special Edition Complaint Reports

    In May 2017, the Bureau began publishing special edition monthly 
complaint reports that highlight complaint information not routinely 
covered by statutorily-required and monthly complaint reports. These 
reports include, for example, complaint information aggregated for all 
50 States, complaint information aggregated by specific population 
groups (e.g., servicemembers), and consumer feedback aggregated by 
product category. Special edition complaint reports sometime include 
additional information about a subset of complaints that may be of 
interest to readers (e.g., a report on servicemembers included a 
breakdown on the branch of military service).

Consumer Complaint Database

    After requesting public comment on a proposed policy statement, in 
June 2012 the Bureau issued a final policy statement and began 
publishing consumers' credit card complaints in a public web-based 
database.\4\ The Bureau subsequently sought public comment on 
expansions of the database to include complaints about additional 
consumer financial products and services and consumer narratives.\5\ 
The purpose of the public Consumer Complaint Database is to provide 
timely and understandable information and to improve the functioning of 
the market, in line with the Bureau's objectives.\6\ Complaints are 
listed in the database when the company responds to the complaint 
confirming a relationship with the consumer or after the company has 
had the complaint for 15 calendar days, whichever comes first. 
Complaints are not published if they do not meet all of the publication 
criteria described in the final policy statements.\7\ Complaints 
submitted by unauthorized third parties, complaints that are the result 
of fraud, scams, or business identity theft, and complaints referred to 
other regulators, such as complaints about depository institutions with 
less than $10 billion in assets, are not published in the Consumer 
Complaint Database.
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    \4\ Disclosure of Certain Credit Card Complaint Data, 76 FR 
76628 (December 8, 2011); Disclosure of Certain Credit Card 
Complaint Data, 77 FR 37558 (June 22, 2012).
    \5\ Disclosure of Consumer Complaint Data, 77 FR 37616 (June 22, 
2012); Disclosure of Consumer Complaint Data, 78 FR 21218 (April 10, 
2013); Disclosure of Consumer Complaint Narrative Data, 79 FR 45183 
(August 4, 2014); Disclosure of Consumer Complaint Narrative Data, 
80 FR 15572 (March 24, 2015).
    \6\ 12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(1), (5).
    \7\ For additional information, see ``Consumer Complaint 
Database,'' https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/ (last visited Feb. 27, 2018).
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Overview of This Request for Information

    The Bureau is using this request for information (RFI) to seek 
public input regarding potential changes that can be implemented to the 
Bureau's public reporting practices of consumer complaint information, 
consistent with law, to consider whether any changes to the practices 
would be appropriate. The Bureau encourages comments from all 
interested members of the public. The Bureau anticipates that the 
responding public may include financial industry participants, 
government agencies, consumer advocacy and financial education groups, 
trade associations, academic and research organizations, and consumers.
    The Bureau will issue a subsequent RFI seeking public input 
regarding consumer inquiries and related process activities. The 
purpose of this RFI is to seek feedback on all aspects of its consumer 
complaint reporting and publication practices; the Bureau is not 
seeking comment in this RFI on consumer inquiries and related process 
activities.

Suggested Topics for Commenters

    To allow the Bureau to more effectively evaluate suggestions, the 
Bureau requests that, where possible, comments include:
     The usefulness of complaint reporting and analysis to 
external stakeholders, including but not limited to financial industry 
participants, government agencies, consumer advocacy and financial 
education groups, trade associations, academic and research 
organizations, and consumers; and
     Specific suggestions or best practices for complaint 
reporting and publication given the Bureau's statutory objectives, 
including the Bureau's objective to ensure that markets for consumer 
financial products and services operate transparently and efficiently 
to facilitate access and innovation.\8\
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    \8\ 12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(5).
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    The following represents a preliminary attempt by the Bureau to 
identify elements of Bureau complaint reporting and publication 
practices on which it should immediately focus. This non-exhaustive 
list is meant to assist in the formulation of comments and is not 
intended to restrict the issues that may be addressed. In addressing 
these issues and questions, the Bureau requests that commenters 
identify with specificity the consumer complaint reporting and 
publication practices at issue, providing legal citations where 
appropriate and available.
    The Bureau is seeking feedback on all aspects of its consumer 
complaint reporting and publication practices, including:
    1. Specific, statutorily-permissible suggestions regarding the 
frequency of the Bureau's reporting on consumer complaints;
    2. Specific, statutorily-permissible suggestions on the content of 
the Bureau's reporting on consumer complaints, including:

[[Page 9501]]

    a. Whether the Bureau should include more, less, or the same amount 
of reporting on State and local complaint trends;
    b. Whether it is net beneficial or net harmful to the transparent 
and efficient operation of markets for consumer financial products and 
services for the Bureau to publish the names of the most-complained-
about companies;
    c. Whether the Bureau should provide more, less, or the same data 
fields in the Consumer Complaint Database;
    d. Whether the Bureau should provide more, less, or the same amount 
of context for complaint information, particularly with regard to 
product or service market size and company share;
    e. Whether the Bureau should supplement observations from consumer 
complaints with observations of company responses to complaints;
    f. Whether the Bureau should share more, less, or the same amount 
of information on month-to-month trends; and
    g. Whether the Bureau should share more, less, or the same amount 
of information on particular products and services;
    3. Specific suggestions on the reporting methodology, including:
    a. Should the Bureau continue to analyze data for seasonal 
fluctuations? If so, how?; and
    b. Should the Bureau provide more, less, or the same amount of 
context for complaint information, particularly with regard to product 
and service market size and company share, including what data set(s) 
or data source(s) the Bureau should use;
    4. Specific, statutorily-permissible suggestions for the 
publication process of consumer complaint information, including:
    a. Whether the Bureau should provide the public with a publication 
schedule;
    b. Whether the Bureau should notify the most-complained-about 
companies of their inclusion in a Bureau report prior to publication 
and invite company comment;
    c. Whether the Bureau should devote resources to building tools to 
enable users to analyze complaint information; and
    d. Whether the Bureau should expand, limit, or maintain the same 
level of access to complaint information available to external 
stakeholders such as financial institutions and the public.

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 5511(c).

    Dated: March 1, 2018.
Mick Mulvaney,
Acting Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2018-04544 Filed 3-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P