Appleseed Network Submits Comments to CFPB on the Complaint Process

Appleseed recently submitted formal comments to the CFPB on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (Bureau) complaint process. For further information, please contact Annette LoVoi, Appleseed’s Director of Financial Access and Asset Building.

​Dear Acting Director Mulvaney,
​
Thank you for giving Appleseed the chance to submit this comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (Bureau) complaint process.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act clearly assigns the Bureau responsibility for collecting, investigating and responding to consumer complaints.

Appleseed places a high premium on this system for many reasons. This system enables two-way communication between the Bureau and consumers; provides input to the Bureau’s other systems and functions; and enables focused marketplace correction.

We support continuation of the robust system that has been established.

We particularly appreciate the value of the Consumer Response Annual Report. We find this document identifies patterns of problems and provides readily-understandable insights into the complaint process by complaint type. We both value and use the disaggregated data by complaint type, along with the thorough exploration and description of each complaint type. This provides Appleseed with valuable information as we work on individual issues, particularly payday loans and money transfers.

We further recognize the robustness of the system in the sheer numbers of complaints filed – 320,000 in 2017. The Bureau’s complaint system provides a first-time forum for these concerns and is both unique and important for the Bureau and users like Appleseed.

Thank you for considering these views. If you would like to discuss our comments further, please contact us.