As of February 4, 2026 the CFPB has added a new notice that consumers must agree to before submitting a complaint. The notice states:
THIS CONSUMER COMPLAINT PORTAL IS DESIGNED TO HELP CONSUMERS, INCLUDING TO RESOLVE COMPLAINTS AGAINST CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES.
CONSISTENT WITH THE LAW, CONSUMERS MUST FIRST DISPUTE INACCURATE OR INCOMPLETE INFORMATION ON THEIR CREDIT REPORT WITH THE CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY. PREMATURE SUBMISSIONS SLOW DOWN THE SYSTEM FOR THOSE MOST IN NEED OF HELP AND WHO HAVE CORRECTLY FOLLOWED THE PROCESS.
HAVE YOU SUBMITTED YOUR DISPUTE TO A CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY MORE THAN 45 DAYS AGO, OR IS YOUR DISPUTE WITH THEM NO LONGER PENDING?
IF NOT, DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE AT THIS TIME.
Despite this notice being specific to complaints with consumer report agencies, it appears before any complaint is made.
Last month CFPB began to accept public comments on whether the agency’s complaint intake system ‘is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the CFPB’. Three days before this the Consumer Data Industry Association (representing the big three consumer reporting agencies) said the CFPB should ‘cease publishing data related to individual consumer complaints’.
I can attest to why this public facing data is useful, I’ve been contacted by journalists that have seen upticks in CFPB complaints for certain issues. Articles have then been written and the public pressure has caused the financial institutions to rectify these issues.
