Big credit bureaus, record complaints

This is the 26th report in PIRG’s series of reports based on complaints in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s public consumer complaint database. Consumer complaint totals set new records in 2021 and again in 2022, rising 61% from 2021 (496,000) to 2022 (800,394). Total consumer credit reporting complaints nearly doubled, from 2021 thru 2022.

Executive Summary

This is the 26th report in PIRG’s series of reports based on complaints in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s public consumer complaint database. 

Consumer complaint totals set new records in 2021 and again in 2022, rising 61% from 2021 (496,000) to 2022 (800,394).

Total consumer credit reporting complaints increased by 96% or nearly doubled, from 2021 (307,548) thru 2022 (604,221).

Chart 1: Credit reporting complaints skyrocket to new annual record

staff | Public Domain
Chart 1: Credit reporting complaints skyrocket to new record in 2022
Topics
Authors

Ed Mierzwinski

Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Ed oversees U.S. PIRG’s federal consumer program, helping to lead national efforts to improve consumer credit reporting laws, identity theft protections, product safety regulations and more. Ed is co-founder and continuing leader of the coalition, Americans For Financial Reform, which fought for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, including as its centerpiece the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He was awarded the Consumer Federation of America's Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award in 2006, Privacy International's Brandeis Award in 2003, and numerous annual "Top Lobbyist" awards from The Hill and other outlets. Ed lives in Virginia, and on weekends he enjoys biking with friends on the many local bicycle trails.

Mike Litt

Director, Consumer Campaign, U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Mike directs U.S. PIRG’s national campaign to protect consumers on Wall Street and in the financial marketplace by defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and works for stronger privacy protections and corporate accountability in the wake of the Equifax data breach. Mike lives in Washington, D.C.