ConsumerLawDisputeFile · Force · Monitor

Federal escalation

File the CFPB complaint, then sit back

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau routes your complaint straight to the company and requires a response, usually within 15 days. It is free, electronic, and it creates the paper trail that makes a bureau's non-compliance provable.

  1. Step 1

    Create your consumer portal account

    Go to consumerfinance.gov/complaint and register. Your portal keeps every complaint, every company response, and every timestamp in one federal record you can cite later.

  2. Step 2

    File one complaint per company

    Separate complaints for each bureau and each furnisher. Combining them lets a company answer for conduct that isn't theirs.

  3. Step 3

    Attach your proof

    Upload your dispute letter, the Certified Mail receipt, the signed return receipt, and any bureau response that claims 'verified' without documents.

  4. Step 4

    Use precise statutory language

    Vague complaints get form responses. Name the section, the date, and the demand.

  5. Step 5

    Answer the company response

    You get a window to dispute the company's answer inside the portal. Use it every time — an unrebutted response closes the file.

  6. Step 6

    Escalate in parallel

    Also file with your State Attorney General, the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and for federal student loans the FSA Ombudsman.

Complaint narrative template

Paste this into the "What happened?" field and fill in the brackets.

I am the consumer. On [DATE] I mailed a dispute to [AGENCY] via USPS Priority Mail and Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested (Certified No. [NUMBER]), which was delivered on [DELIVERY DATE].

I disputed the following inaccurate information in my consumer file: [LIST ITEMS].

[AGENCY] has failed to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation as required by 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1) and has failed to provide the method of verification I requested under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(7). The response I received merely repeated the furnisher's assertion without any documentary evidence, which does not satisfy the statute and constitutes an unfair and deceptive practice under 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531 and 5536.

I am also asserting violations of [FDCPA § 1692g(b) / § 1692e(8) — collections], [TILA § 1666a — disputed billing], [ECOA § 1691(d)(2) — adverse action reasons], [GLBA § 6802 — unauthorized data sharing], [RESPA § 2605(e) — mortgage servicing], [HIPAA 45 C.F.R. § 164.508 — medical disclosure], and [TCPA § 227(b) — automated contact] as applicable.

Requested resolution: delete or correct every disputed item, provide a complete updated file disclosure under 15 U.S.C. § 1681g, and provide the documented method of verification.

Attached: my dispute letter, USPS Certified Mail receipt, return receipt, and the agency's response.

Then wait 30 to 60 days

Whatever falls off, good. Whatever doesn't, you rinse and repeat with a harder round. Log the dates so you know the exact day the clock runs out.

Open the tracker