Consumers’ voices

What are you going to make with #CFPBdata?

Last summer, we launched our Consumer Complaint Database featuring data about credit card complaints.

Today, based on feedback from the public, we’re expanding it – and increasing the number of complaints from about 19,000 to more than 90,000. Here’s what we’re adding data about:

• Mortgage complaints submitted since we started taking mortgage complaints on December 1st, 2011.
• Complaints about bank accounts and services submitted since we started taking them on March 1st, 2012.
• Private student loan complaints submitted since we started taking them on March 1st, 2012.
• Complaints about other consumer loans (for example, if you got a loan to finance your daughter’s braces) submitted since we started taking them on March 1st, 2012.
• More specificity about the product each complaint is about, where provided. For example, instead of just “mortgage,” you can see if the complaint is about a reverse mortgage or a conventional fixed mortgage, etc.

And we’re not satisfied quite yet – more expansions are coming. In the future, we’ll add even more products and improvements to the user experience.

The best part is: You don’t have to wait for us to build what you’d like to see from the data. We’re releasing this data as an API, as well as in CSV, JSON, PDF, RDF, RSS, XLS, XLSX, and XML – and we’d love to see what you can do with it.

From infographics to iPhone apps, we’ve seen people do amazing things with the credit card complaint data that was available before today.

If you think you’ve found something interesting in the consumer complaint data, we want to hear about it.

We encourage the public, including consumers, analysts, data scientists, civic hackers, and companies that serve consumers, to analyze, augment, and build on the information in the database to develop ways for consumers to use the complaint data or mash it up with other public data sets to reveal potential trends.

Share your work, from visualizations to new tools, by tweeting @CFPB using the hashtag #CFPBdata.

The Consumer Complaint Database is just another example of our support for an open-data agenda. Our Project Catalyst team also will be using this data to support innovation in the consumer finance space.

Scott Pluta is the Assistant Director for the Office of Consumer Response at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

p.s. As an example of what can be done with the data, we gave one of our staff a day to play with it in Microsoft Excel. Here’s what she came up with. Her example only goes to March 22, and as with the database itself, the data hasn’t been normalized, meaning that in many cases apples-to-apples comparisons can’t always be made. For example, companies with more customers could be expected to have more complaints. States with more people, likewise, would be expected to have more complaints.

We invite you to participate in a field hearing in Tampa, Florida on reverse mortgages.

The field hearing will take place on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at 11:00 am in the Ballroom of the Tampa Convention Center, 333 South Franklin Street, Tampa, Florida.

The field hearing will feature remarks from Richard Cordray, CFPB Director as well as testimony from consumer and civil rights groups, industry representatives, and members of the public.

This event is open to the public and requires an RSVP. To RSVP, email your full name and your organizational affiliation (if any) to cfpb.events@cfpb.gov.

We all make mistakes. That’s part of what makes us human. When we can, we learn from our mistakes. That’s why we at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau want to understand more about the most common errors consumers make about money. We want to find better ways to help others avoid these mistakes in the future.

For example, many consumers make credit card and loan decisions without shopping for the best rates and terms. Others set goals – like saving more for retirement or for the down payment on a home – but don’t follow through. Many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, but never take the steps necessary to plan their spending, reduce their debt, or save for sudden expenses.

We would like to give you a chance to tell us about common money mistakes. Tell us about:

• Errors you’ve made;
• Mistakes you’ve seen others make;
• Habits and practices that make good choices more difficult; and
• What you wish you had known sooner or would do differently next time.

Please e-mail your comments to FinancialEducation@CFPB.gov.

(Note: Do not discuss personally identifiable information or private issues in the comments area below. If you have a complaint about a specific product or company, please enter it here.)

We are continuing our commitment to hear from consumers around the country about their experiences with financial products and services. Last month, we held a field hearing in Birmingham, Ala., and we will be heading to the Big Apple for our next stop.

The CFPB will be holding a town hall in New York on Wednesday, February 22 to talk about checking accounts. We are looking forward to your participation, so be sure to save the date!

This event is open to the public and requires an RSVP. To RSVP, email your full name to cfpb.events@cfpb.gov.

Who
Director Richard Cordray and Deputy Director Raj Date
Local officials
Members of the public

What
A town hall to listen and to learn from community members’ experiences with checking account products and services

When
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
5:30 p.m.

Where
Hunter College
East 69th Street between Park & Lexington Avenues
New York, NY 10065
Map & directions

The Consumer Bureau has been busy when it comes to student loans. We worked with the Department of Education to launch our Know Before You Owe: Student Loans project and we rolled out the Student Debt Repayment Assistant to help student loan borrowers understand their repayment options. We also published a notice in the Federal Register to ask you – students, lenders, servicers, schools, and other members of the public – to tell us about your experiences with the private student loan market. The response we’ve already received from all corners has been impressive and very helpful. (more…)

Yesterday, Director Cordray kicked off our field hearing on payday lending in Birmingham, Ala., by explaining why he was there and what the Bureau wants to learn from consumers about payday loans. (more…)