Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) | USAGov (2024)

FAQs

What is the role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB? ›

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that implements and enforces Federal consumer financial law and ensures that markets for consumer financial products are fair, transparent, and competitive.

Consistent with applicable law, we securely share complaints with other state and federal agencies to, among other things, facilitate: supervision activities, enforcement activities, and. monitor the market for consumer financial products and services.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) helps consumers by providing educational materials and accepting complaints. It supervises banks, lenders, and large non-bank entities, such as credit reporting agencies and debt collection companies.

The CFPB implements and enforces federal consumer financial laws to ensure that all consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services that are fair, transparent, and competitive.

The CFPB investigates potential violations of federal consumer financial laws by entities or individuals within its authority and initiates public enforcement actions when appropriate.

The CFPB supervises a range of companies to assess their compliance with federal consumer financial laws. We have supervisory authority over banks, thrifts, and credit unions with assets over $10 billion, as well as their affiliates.

Every complaint helps us in our work to supervise companies, enforce federal consumer financial laws, and write better rules and regulations. You speaking up gives us important insight into the issues you face as a consumer, so thank you!

Having a problem with a financial product or service? We help consumers connect with financial companies to understand issues, fix errors, and get direct responses about problems. Tell us about your issue—we'll forward it to the company and work to get you a response, generally within 15 days.

California Attorney General's Office. File a complaint online at http://oag.ca.gov/. The Better Business Bureau. Go to www.bbb.org, or consult your phone directory for a local office.

Sometimes the CFPB will send a warning letter to advise recipients that certain actions may violate federal consumer financial law. These are not accusations of wrongdoing. Instead, they are meant to help recipients review certain practices and ensure that they comply with federal law.

Why would CFPB send me a check? ›

CFPB-administered payments

The person or company that violated the law pays the CFPB, and then we send the money to harmed consumers, sometimes through a payments administrator. These payments are also known as Bureau-Administered Redress.

CFPB. Challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for pulling back on data collection to protect women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses against discriminatory lending.

Respond to complaints

By statute, a primary function of the CFPB is to collect, investigate and respond to consumer complaints. Companies receive and respond to these complaints through the Company Portal, a secure online environment that protects consumer privacy and the confidentiality of company responses.

The CFPB has regulatory authority over providers of many types of financial products and services, including credit cards, banking accounts, loan servicing, credit reporting and consumer debt collection.

The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection stops unfair, deceptive and fraudulent business practices by collecting reports from consumers and conducting investigations, suing companies and people that break the law, developing rules to maintain a fair marketplace, and educating consumers and businesses about their rights ...

The CFPB is responsible for regulating all consumer financial products including mortgages, jurisdiction over enforcement of the Truth in Lending (TIL) Laws and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and the creation of the new "Know before You Buy" program.

Financial consumer protection refers to laws, regulations and other measures generally designed to ensure fair and responsible treatment of financial consumers in their purchase and use of financial products and services and their dealings with financial services providers.

Ensuring compliance with federal consumer financial laws and regulations and assessing financial risks to consumers.