The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) signed an agreement that gives the CFPB access to an FTC consumer complaint database.
“The Dodd-Frank Act requires the CFPB to share consumer complaint information with the FTC and other state and federal agencies,” explained CFPB's Kent Marcus in an Aug. 12 blog post. “The goal is to make sure agencies coordinate their enforcement of consumer financial protection laws.”
Marcus said the agreement moves the CFPB one step closer to achieving that goal.
The FTC's Consumer Sentinel database helps law enforcement track and respond to consumer complaints. The complaints in the database touch on many financial matters, from advance-fee loans to credit scams. The database is accessible only to law enforcement.
“The agreement allows the CFPB to access consumer complaints within the FTC's Consumer Sentinel system,” Marcus wrote. “In addition, we will share complaint information that we receive from consumers with the Sentinel database, subject to appropriate privacy protections and access restrictions.”
Many government agencies currently share complaints with Consumer Sentinel including several state attorneys general, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. Some non-governmental organizations also use the database. These organizations include the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, MoneyGram International, the National Consumers League and Publishers Clearing House. The organizations can add information to the database about problems people report to them but they do not have access to complaints submitted by law enforcement agencies.
“By participating in the Consumer Sentinel database, we hope to further enhance this already useful database for ourselves and for others,” Marcus concluded. “We can use the data to help make the market for financial products and services work better for consumers.”