sclark@imfpubs.com

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is no longer publishing complaint narratives and visualizations in its consumer complaint database.

In an announcement this month, the CFPB said the Dodd-Frank Act requires it to collect, monitor and respond to consumer complaints but the publication of complaint narratives and associated data visualizations is “entirely discretionary.”

“Many years of experience have demonstrated that the utility of such publication is minimal, while often causing confusion and providing misleading data,” the bureau said. “By their very nature, complaint narratives reflect negative consumer experiences and present only one side of an issue.”

The CFPB added that the narratives don’t always describe violations of the law and the complaint process “doesn’t verify the allegations in each consumer’s complaint narrative, nor can it, as a practical matter.”

For more details, see the latest edition of Inside the CFPB.