01/31/2026

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Moves to Protect Credit Reporting Companies from Consumers’ Complaints

NCLC

WASHINGTON – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), led by Trump appointee and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought, started the process of potentially changing the Bureau’s complaint system to make it harder for people to file complaints against credit reporting companies – and possibly against debt collectors, banks, and other big businesses. The CFPB appears to be responding to a request by Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA)  to reduce the number of complaints people file with the CFPB against the three key members of the trade association, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, which together are known as the Big Three.  

The January 27 CDIA letter to CFPB asks the Bureau to: (1) require consumers to supply sensitive personal information, such as date of birth and other demographic information; (2) require two-factor authentication and only allow a certain number of complaints per phone number, effectively restricting how many complaints a consumer can file; and (3) restrict IP addresses from submitting complaints on behalf of multiple consumers, which could hinder consumers from submitting complaints from places such as libraries and domestic violence shelters