You may need to know how to cfpb complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) if you believe your student loan services charges you unfair fees, fails to allocate your payments accurately, or engages in deceptive practices.
Student loans, mortgages, credit reporting, and debt collection are the financial products and services that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau protects. Therefore, you should contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if you have a complaint regarding a student loan.
1. Make contact with your loan services first to resolve the issue
Your loan services should be contacted directly before filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should only be brought in when it is clear that there is no resolution to the problem.
2. Documents that support your claim
If you are filing a complaint with the CFPB, you should include any third-party supporting documents, such as bills, contracts, letters, and receipts.
3. You can file a complaint at Consumer Finance.gov/complaint
Your complaint will be filed on this official website of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
4. Select 'student loan' from the options menu
This is one of eight options under "Choose the product or service that best matches your complaint." As you can see, student loans are one of many financial products and services the CFPB accepts complaints about.
5. Choose between a federal student loan and a private student loan
Your servicer is responsible for handling which types of student loans.
6. Give a brief description of what happened
Your side of the story is critical to the CFPB. At this point, they don't want you to include any personally identifying information (e.g., your name, account number, contact information, SSN).
7. Please indicate whether or not you wish for your story to be included in the CFPB's database of consumer complaints
Your story will be included in the Consumer Complaint Database - a public database that anyone can access after you describe what happened.
Consider sharing your story with another borrower having a similar issue if you're unsure whether to make it public.
You may still be included in the database even if you decline to make your complaint public, minus any personal information. The information includes the following:
The date (filed your complaint)
Product type ( loans for students)
Sub-product ( loan from the federal government)
Issue (involving my lender or services)
Description (if you want to include it)
Name and location of your services
Their response to your complaint
Your response to the response, whether you disputed it or not
See for yourself by browsing the database.
8. Please follow the instructions for the rest of the submission process
Describe the solution you would like
Information requested should be provided
Information on the requested product will be provided
Your submission needs to be reviewed
The complaint should be submitted
9. Responses may take up to 15 days
The CFPB will forward your complaint and supporting documentation to your loan services for review. There is usually a 15-day response period from your service.
You can expect to receive CFPB email updates during this 15-day waiting period. Nevertheless, you can check on the status of your complaint as often as you like by logging in to the website.
In addition, the CFPB may determine that another government agency can better assist you after reviewing your complaint. You will be notified when your information has been forwarded to another agency.