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The CFPB and City of Columbus Team Up to Help Local Consumers with Questions and Complaints

Columbus Consumers Can Call 311 to Connect with the CFPB About Financial Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the City of Columbus announced a partnership to connect consumers with the CFPB to ask questions and submit complaints about financial products and services. Columbus consumers can now dial the Mayor’s Constituent Service hotline at 311 to be connected with the Bureau.

“We are proud to be teaming up with Mayor Coleman to give Columbus residents new ways to access help with financial products and services,” said Director Richard Cordray. “Consumers deserve to have someone on their side, and we look forward to working with the City of Columbus to do just that.”

“I want to thank Rich Cordray and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the outstanding work they do to protect American consumers,” Mayor Michael B. Coleman said. “I am pleased we can use 311 to assist them in their cause.”

In Columbus, the phone number 311 is a non-emergency line connecting residents to city services. City representatives are available weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. to respond to service requests and issues. With today’s announcement, Columbus residents who call the Mayor’s hotline with a question or complaint about consumer financial products or services will be transferred directly to the Bureau, which can answer questions and accept complaints.

The CFPB works with consumers on the challenges they face with financial products and services, and now handles consumer complaints on credit cards, mortgages, bank accounts and services, private student loans, consumer loans, credit reporting, money transfers, debt collection, and payday loans. The CFPB screens complaints to make sure they’re complete, aren’t duplicates of existing complaints, and are about something the Bureau covers. The CFPB then sends complaints that meet these criteria to the company — bank or nonbank — for review and response. Companies are given 15 days to respond and are expected to close all but the most complicated complaints within 60 days.

Consumers can check the status of their complaint and provide feedback about the company’s response at: consumerfinance.gov/complaint


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. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov.