CFPB Accused Of Siding With Credit Bureaus On Complaints

A key national consumer group says the CFPB is moving to make it harder for people to complain about credit bureaus, in ways that align with industry requests from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.​

What the accusation is

• The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and allies argue that the CFPB has “moved to protect” credit reporting companies from consumer complaints rather than consumers from abusive reporting practices.​

• They point to a new CFPB process to change the public complaint system, which could especially affect complaints about the “Big Three” credit bureaus.​

What is being proposed

According to NCLC’s summary of the CDIA (industry trade group) request and CFPB’s response:​

• Require extra sensitive data from consumers (such as date of birth and more demographics) as a condition of filing a complaint.

• Require two‑factor authentication and limit how many complaints can be submitted per phone number, which could cap how many problems one person can report.

• Block or restrict multiple complaints from the same IP address, which could hinder complaints submitted from libraries, shelters, or legal aid offices that help many consumers file.​

These measures would not eliminate the complaint system, but critics say they would raise the barrier to using it, particularly for low‑income and vulnerable consumers.​

Why advocates say it “sides with” credit bureaus

• The timing: the changes appear to follow a January 27 letter from the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), the trade association for Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, asking CFPB to act to reduce complaint volumes targeting its members.​

• The effect: if implemented, the changes would reduce the number of complaints that credit bureaus and other large financial firms must answer, making it harder to document systemic problems in the public complaint database.

Advocates argue this effectively aligns the Bureau’s processes with credit bureaus’ desire to minimize public complaints, rather than strengthening consumers’ ability to get errors fixed.

How this fits into the broader credit‑reporting fight

• Complaints about credit reporting already dominate the CFPB complaint system; over 80% of FY 2023 CFPB complaints were credit‑reporting related, with most about incorrect information or inadequate investigations.

• At the same time, the CFPB has recently sued or penalized the major bureaus for allegedly “sham” or improper investigations of disputes, including a 2025 lawsuit against Experian and a 2025 penalty against Equifax.

This tension—strong enforcement actions on one hand and a move to restrict the complaint pipeline on the other—is what led consumer groups to say the CFPB is now “siding with” credit bureaus on the complaint system itself.​

CFPB is exploring several changes that would make it harder to submit complaints, closely tracking a request from the credit‑bureau trade group CDIA.​

Proposed data and login hurdles

• Require consumers to provide more sensitive personal information (such as date of birth and additional demographic details) as a condition of filing a complaint.​

• Require two‑factor authentication to access or submit complaints, and cap how many complaints can be filed from a single phone number, limiting how many problems one person can report.​

Limits on where and how complaints can be filed

• Restrict or block multiple complaints coming from the same IP address, which could prevent organizations like libraries, legal aid offices, or domestic‑violence shelters from helping many different consumers submit complaints from shared computers.​

Scope of possible impact

• These changes are being discussed in the context of complaints against credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), but advocates note it is unclear whether similar restrictions would also apply to complaints against debt collectors, big banks, mortgage servicers, and other firms under CFPB jurisdiction.​