Consumer reviews are out of control, financial industry forces tell Trump appointees

Rather than reform their practices, big business prefers to squelch legitimate consumer dialogue

Affordability is the current political buzzword but most of the federal government’s actual attention seems to be directed at reducing expense and bother for Corporate America.

One way it’s attempting to do that is to make it harder for consumers to file complaints against credit reporting companies, and possibly against debt collectors, banks and other big businesses.

A plan by Trump appointee and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought would change the complaint system at the already-decimated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which once aggressively collected consumer complaints in a large public database and then went to bat for consumers, filing legal actions against companies identified as frequent offenders.

During its brief existence — less than 20 years — the CFPB returned billions of dollars to consumers who had been harmed by corporate America and was an outspoken champion of everyday consumers trying to keep their financial lives in order. This earned it a “kill on sight” badge from the banks, debt collectors, credit bureaus and others who profit from consumers’ misfortune.

Payback time

Created after the financial crisis of 2008 during the Obama years, the CFPB was weakened by constant attacks during the Biden administration but managed to keep the doors open and provide a platform for the public’s grievances. Now, however, Trump’s second term is proving to be a revenge fest as the CFPB’s enemies take their turn at the whipping post.

Probably no one has hated the CFPB more than the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, an unholy trio represented by the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), which has been asking the Trump White House to limit the consumer complaints the CFPB accepts.

In a January 27 letter, the Big Three asked the CFPB to throttle the gusher of gripes. It wants the bureau to:

(1) require consumers to supply sensitive personal information, such as date of birth and other demographic information;

(2) require two-factor authentication and only allow a certain number of complaints per phone number, effectively restricting how many complaints a consumer can file; and

(3) restrict IP addresses from submitting complaints on behalf of multiple consumers, which could hinder consumers from submitting complaints from places such as libraries and domestic violence shelters.

Let mistakes go unreported

Businesses have long resented how free consumers are with their opinions and have tried various methods of stifling them, not by improving their services and procedures but by silencing the public forums that air citizen’s views.

Businesses and their trade associations have launched a multi-front war on free expression of consumer opinions. They’ve done it by filing multi-million dollar lawsuits against privately owned websites that published consumer complaint data, by intimidating and threatening consumers identified as complainers and by supporting the establishment of secretive networks that syndicate consumer comments.

Through this syndication procedure, websites that might rely solely on comments — usually negative and typically quite detailed — from actual readers instead gain access to prepackaged reviews on every topic and company imaginable. It will not be surprising to learn that a large percentage of these syndicated reviews are positive and often suspiciously short and similar to hordes of others.

Where do you think all those five-star ratings come from?

As private complaint outlets faded away and syndicated reviews provided a constantly refreshed trove of “balanced” reviews, the CFPB increasingly took the lead role in collecting and disseminating consumer reviews. It even went an extra mile or two, not just publishing consumer comments but taking action on the most egregious ones and formulating new rules to promote transparency, privacy and fairness.

Five million complaints

“Last year, consumers filed nearly five million complaints with the CFPB regarding credit reporting, mostly against the Big Three credit bureaus, one of the worst oligopolies in this country,” said Chi Chi Wu, of the National Consumer Law Center.

Those huge numbers reflect the massive issues caused by mistakes and other problems that people have with their credit reports. But instead of fixing these problems, which is supposed to be CFPB’s mission, Russell Vought and his cronies appear ready to bow to the industry’s demands to sweep the problem under the rug by suppressing the volume of complaints,” Wu said.

Wu noted that incorrect information on a credit report, whether caused by errors or identity theft, can be devastating, costing families thousands of dollars in higher interest rates or denying access to loans altogether. It can prevent people from becoming homeowners, buying cars, or opening small businesses and can also cost people a job opportunity, insurance, or an apartment rental.

“Affordability is people’s top economic concern,” said Wu. “Credit reporting errors and problems can cost families big bucks, but instead of helping consumers with credit reporting errors, like the CFPB once did, the Vought-led agency appears to be responding to the industry’s wish list to prevent people from complaining about them in the first place.”

It’s unclear whether the potential changes would also affect complaints against other companies that CFPB regulates such as debt collectors, big banks, and mortgage servicers.

Debt collection complaints exploding

“Debt collection is the second-most common source of complaints to the CFPB, said NCLC Senior Attorney April Kuehnhoff. “The number of consumer debt collection complaints is exploding, increasing more than four times in the span of two years, from 2023 to 2025.

In 2024, the CFPB received roughly 207,800 complaints about debt-collection practices — almost double the ~109,900 reported in 2023 according to federal reporting. A large share of complaints focus on collectors attempting to collect debts the consumer disputes or says they do not owe. In 2024, approximately 45 % of debt-collection complaints were about efforts to collect debts consumers denied owing.

“We need a CFPB that can help consumers resolve their complaints, enforce consumer protection laws, and supervise the debt collection industry – not throw up artificial barriers to consumers calling on the federal government for help,” she said