Life in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-age is well underway, and it seems the bureau’s Director Richard Cordray is becoming more forthright on how his agency approaches consumer complaints.
Cordray’s staff issued his remarks before the U.S. Conference of Mayors Wednesday. In those statements, he is surprisingly open about how complaints about lenders and servicers are handled by the CFPB.
The process begins with a simple consumer call to the bureau or a submission through its website, ConsumerFinance.gov.
Each complaint is individually processed, Cordray said in his statements.
"We typically forward it via a secure web portal to the appropriate company, which reviews the information, communicates with the consumer as needed, and determines what action to take in response," the CFPB director added.
"The company is required to address the issue on a fairly quick time frame. If the consumer is not happy with the company’s answer, they can send us feedback," he explained.
"We review this feedback, along with other information such as the timeliness of the company’s response, to prioritize complaints for investigation. Throughout the process, consumers can call us or log onto our website to receive status updates, and provide additional information."
To date, the bureau has received 270,000 complaints from individuals, recording 15,000 consumer complaints last month alone. About 109,000 complaints – a solid majority of the whole – relate to mortgages.
The CFPB also is tracking trends to spot any reoccurring issues.
