CFPB Extending Comment Period for Consumer Narratives in Complaints

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Tuesday that it is extending the comment period for its proposal to add consumer narratives to the public complaints database it manages. The proposal would give consumers the chance to explain exactly what lead to a complaint.

Two weeks ago, the CFPB proposed publishing the explanations, or narratives, field in the public database of consumer complaints. The original 30 day deadline for comments has now been extended to 60 days, with a new deadline of September 22, 2014. The Bureau said that early feedback on the proposal prompted the extension.

Comments can be made through the proposal’s comment portal on Regulations.gov.

When consumers submit a complaint to the CFPB, they fill in information such as who they are, who the complaint is against, when it occurred, and what issues were relevant based on a preset list of options. But they are also given a text box to describe what happened and can attach documents to the complaint. When the Bureau forwards the complaint to the company, the narrative text and documents (if any) are provided.

But that narrative text does not appear in the CFPB’s public complaints database. Under the proposal, that would change.

The CFPB said, “In many ways, the narratives are the most insightful part of a complaint. They provide a first-hand account of the consumer’s experience and the problem they would like resolved.” The agency said that by publishing the narratives, it would “greatly enhance the utility of the [complaints] database” by adding context to the complaints.

The official proposal notes that the CFPB would publish the complaints only if consumers proactively opt for their narrative to be shared. When consumers submit a complaint through the CFPB’s complaint portal, they would have to affirmatively check a consent box to give the Bureau permission to publish their narrative.

The Bureau also noted that it would take “all reasonable steps” to remove any personal information consumers provide within the narrative.

The CFPB is also proposing that companies’ responses be made public, should they choose. Companies would be given the opportunity to post a written response that would appear next to the consumer’s story. In most cases, this response would appear at the same time as the consumer’s narrative so that reviewers can see both sides concurrently. This response would also be scrubbed of personal information.