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CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Crawler

BUSINESSOTHERLEAD GENERATION
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CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Crawler

Crawl consumer financial complaint records from the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) database. Extract complaint details, company responses, consumer narratives, issue categories, and geographic data from 14M+ complaints filed since 2011. Filter by company, product, state, date range, and narrative availability.

What does the CFPB Complaint Crawler do?

The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Crawler queries the official CFPB Consumer Complaint Database API to extract structured complaint records. The database contains over 14 million consumer complaints about financial products and services, including credit reporting, debt collection, mortgages, credit cards, and bank accounts. Each record includes the complaint details, the company involved, the company's response, geographic data, and -- when the consumer has opted in -- the full narrative text describing what happened.

CFPB Complaint Crawler Features

  • Accesses 14M+ complaint records from the official CFPB consumer complaint database (2011 to present)
  • Extracts 18 structured fields per complaint including company response, issue category, consumer narrative, dates, and geographic data
  • Filters by company name -- exact match against CFPB's company index (e.g., "EQUIFAX, INC.", "BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION")
  • Filters by financial product -- Credit Reporting, Debt Collection, Mortgage, Credit Card, Checking/Savings, Student Loan, and more
  • Filters by state -- US state code filtering (e.g., CA, NY, TX)
  • Filters by date range -- specify "received after" and "received before" dates
  • Filters for narrative availability -- return only complaints where the consumer provided a written narrative
  • Full text search -- search across complaint narratives and fields (e.g., "identity theft", "overdraft fee")
  • Cursor-based pagination -- uses search_after cursors to reliably paginate through any number of results (standard offset pagination is broken in the CFPB API)
  • No proxy required -- CFPB is a public government API with no authentication or rate limits

CFPB Complaint Crawler Output Fields

Field Type Description
complaint_id string Unique complaint ID
date_received string Date complaint was received (YYYY-MM-DD)
product string Financial product category (Credit reporting, Mortgage, etc.)
sub_product string Financial sub-product
issue string Primary complaint issue
sub_issue string Complaint sub-issue
company string Company name
company_response string Company's response (Closed with explanation, Closed with monetary relief, etc.)
state string Consumer's US state code
zip_code string First 3 digits of consumer's ZIP code
complaint_what_happened string Consumer narrative text (when consent provided)
submitted_via string Submission channel (Web, Referral, Phone, etc.)
date_sent_to_company string Date complaint was forwarded to company (YYYY-MM-DD)
timely string Whether company responded timely (Yes/No)
consumer_disputed string Whether consumer disputed the response
company_public_response string Company's public-facing response
tags string Consumer tags (Older American, Servicemember)
has_narrative boolean Whether complaint includes consumer narrative text

Who Uses CFPB Complaint Data?

  • Compliance teams: Monitor complaint volume and resolution patterns for specific financial institutions to identify regulatory risk
  • Legal researchers: Analyze complaint narratives and company responses for litigation support, class action research, and regulatory filings
  • Financial analysts: Track complaint trends by product category, company, or geography to assess reputational risk and consumer sentiment
  • Journalists and watchdog organizations: Investigate patterns of consumer harm at specific companies or across product categories
  • Fintech companies: Benchmark customer complaint rates against competitors and identify underserved consumer segments
  • Academic researchers: Study consumer financial behavior, dispute resolution outcomes, and the effectiveness of regulatory oversight

How to Use the CFPB Complaint Crawler

Input Parameters

Parameter Required Default Description
searchTerm No (none) Full text search across narratives and fields (e.g., "identity theft")
company No All Exact company name (e.g., "EQUIFAX, INC.")
product No All Product category: Credit Reporting, Debt Collection, Mortgage, Credit Card, etc.
state No All US state code (e.g., CA, NY, TX)
dateFrom No (none) Return complaints received on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
dateTo No (none) Return complaints received on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
hasNarrative No false If true, only return complaints with consumer narrative text
maxItems No 100 Maximum complaint records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited

Example Configurations

Get recent Equifax complaints with narratives:

{
    "company": "EQUIFAX, INC.",
    "hasNarrative": true,
    "maxItems": 100
}

Search for identity theft complaints in California:

{
    "searchTerm": "identity theft",
    "state": "CA",
    "maxItems": 100
}

Get all mortgage complaints from 2025:

{
    "product": "Mortgage",
    "dateFrom": "2025-01-01",
    "dateTo": "2025-12-31",
    "maxItems": 100
}

Sample Output

{
    "complaint_id": "20961218",
    "date_received": "2026-04-04",
    "product": "Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports",
    "sub_product": "Credit reporting",
    "issue": "Incorrect information on your report",
    "sub_issue": "Account information incorrect",
    "company": "EQUIFAX, INC.",
    "company_response": "Closed with explanation",
    "state": "FL",
    "zip_code": "330",
    "complaint_what_happened": "I disputed an incorrect balance on my credit report...",
    "submitted_via": "Web",
    "date_sent_to_company": "2026-04-04",
    "timely": "Yes",
    "consumer_disputed": "",
    "company_public_response": "",
    "tags": "",
    "has_narrative": true
}

CFPB Consumer Complaint Data FAQ

How do I get consumer complaint data from the CFPB? Use the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Crawler to query the official CFPB API. Set your filters (company, product, state, date range) and the crawler returns structured JSON records. For complaints with consumer narrative text, enable the "With Consumer Narrative Only" filter.

How many complaints are in the CFPB database? The CFPB database contains over 14 million consumer complaints filed since 2011, growing by approximately 7,000-10,000 new complaints per day. About 26% of complaints (~3.76 million) include the consumer's written narrative.

What financial products are covered? The database covers Credit Reporting, Debt Collection, Credit Cards, Mortgages, Checking/Savings Accounts, Student Loans, Vehicle Loans, Money Transfers, Payday Loans, and Prepaid Cards.

Does this crawler require proxies or authentication? No. The CFPB complaint API is a public government service. No authentication, API keys, or proxies are required.

How long does a typical run take? The crawler processes approximately 1,000 records per minute. A run with maxItems set to 100 completes in under 30 seconds. Larger extractions scale linearly.

How is pagination handled? The crawler uses cursor-based pagination (search_after) instead of offset pagination. The CFPB API's offset parameter is non-functional, so the crawler constructs cursors from sort values on each page to reliably paginate through any number of results.

Are company names case-sensitive? Yes. Company names must match the CFPB's index exactly, including capitalization and punctuation. For example, use "EQUIFAX, INC." not "Equifax" or "equifax inc".

Need a Custom Feature?

If you need additional filters, custom data transformations, or integration with your compliance pipeline, file an issue or get in touch.

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