The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s consumer complaint database, a contentious feature since its implementation, will receive upgrades and become more accessible to lenders. 

The CFPB is making changes to its complaint archive in order to streamline response times, and part of that effort will be increased access to the database for lenders, according to a recent notice from the bureau. The regulatory body is working on a form that will allow firms to interact with the database more proactively. 

As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act’s requirements, the CFPB issued its sixth semi-annual report to Congress and the president, noting the state of the bureau’s work as well as the debt collection industry. Efforts to improve its consumer database were among a number of issues brought up in the report. 

“Collecting, investigating and responding to consumer complaints are integral parts of the CFPB’s work, as Congress set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act. The bureau hears directly from consumers about the challenges they face in the marketplace, brings their concerns to the attention of companies, and assists in addressing their complaints,” the report explained.

CFPB calls out debt collectors in report
The bureau also took the debt collection industry to task in the report, noting that these lenders generate more complaints to the federal government than any other consumer financial services sector. In fall of 2014 the CFPB received 86,900, 36 percent of which were related to debt not owed. 

The bureau also explained that it is working on a number of long-term plans to ease anxieties about the the consumer financial services market. The CFPB is also working on releasing a survey on people’s experiences with the debt collection.

The final product will provide valuable information about the consumers’ encounters with the debt collection industry not previously available. Hopes are that this will ultimately assist the bureau and lenders with making life easier for borrowers. 

“As we continue to emerge from the continuing effects of the devastating financial crisis of 2008, we find that debt collection is central and cut across virtually all credit products: credit cards, mortgages, student loans, payday loans, and other consumer loans,” Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB, explained in the report. “Currently, about 30 million consumers—nearly one out of every 10 Americans—are subject to debt collection, for amounts that average about $1,500 each.”