[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7588 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7588
To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to require the
attestation of certain information as part of the consumer complaint
submission process, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 17, 2026
Mr. Barr introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to require the
attestation of certain information as part of the consumer complaint
submission process, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Eliminating Fraud in the CFPB's
Complaint Database Act''.
SEC. 2. COLLECTING AND TRACKING COMPLAINTS.
Section 1013(b)(3) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010
(12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(E) Consumer attestation.--
``(i) In general.--The Director shall
require, using such verification mechanisms as
the Director determines appropriate, each
person who submits a complaint to the unit
established under this paragraph to attest,
under penalty of perjury, that--
``(I) the information and
documentation provided in the complaint
is true and accurate to the best of the
consumer's knowledge;
``(II) the complaint is being
submitted directly by--
``(aa) the consumer; or
``(bb) a representative
authorized to act on the behalf
of the consumer who provides
sufficient proof of
identification and a written
document signed by the consumer
that permits the third party to
act on the behalf of the
consumer specifically as it
relates to submitting a
complaint to the Bureau; and
``(III) the consumer directly
informed the covered person who is
required to respond to complaints under
subsection (b) and (c) of section 1034
to which the complaint relates of the
issue about which the consumer is
submitting the complaint not less than
60 days before submitting the complaint
to the Bureau.
``(ii) Notification requirement.--If the
Director finds, when carrying out clause (i),
that a complaint submitted in the name of a
consumer was not submitted by such consumer or
by a representative authorized to act on the
behalf of such consumer, the Director shall to
the degree practicable--
``(I) inform the consumer in whose
name the complaint was filed that such
complaint was submitted in their name,
without their authorization; and
``(II) provide to the covered
person who is required to respond to
complaints under subsection (b) and (c)
of section 1034 to whom the complaint
relates the name of the person who
submitted the complaint without the
authorization of the consumer.
``(iii) Sufficient proof of identification
defined.--The term `sufficient proof of
identification' means information or
documentation that identifies a protected
consumer and a protected consumer's
representative and includes--
``(I) a social security number or a
copy of a social security card issued
by the Social Security Administration;
``(II) a certified or official copy
of a birth certificate issued by the
entity authorized to issue the birth
certificate; or
``(III) a copy of a driver's
license, an identification card issued
by the motor vehicle administration, or
any other government issued
identification.
``(F) Closure of duplicative, frivolous or
unauthorized complaints.----
``(i) In general.--A covered person who is
required to respond to complaints under
subsection (b) and (c) of section 1034 that
receives a consumer complaint from the unit
established under this paragraph may, upon
reasonable determination, close such complaint
without further action if--
``(I) the complaint, as determined
by such covered person--
``(aa) is duplicative of a
previously submitted and
resolved complaint submitted by
the same consumer relating to
the same issue;
``(bb) is frivolous or
lacking a basis in fact;
``(cc) was not submitted by
the consumer or an individual
authorized to act on the behalf
of the consumer; or
``(dd) was submitted for a
fraudulent or misleading
purpose;
``(II) such covered person was not
directly informed by the consumer of
the issue about which the consumer
submitted the complaint not less than
60 days before the consumer submitted
the complaint; or
``(III) such covered person was
directly informed by the consumer of
the issue about which the consumer
submitted the complaint and such
covered person responded to such
consumer in a manner that remedied the
issue raised by the consumer; or
``(ii) Recording.--If a covered person who
is required to respond to complaints under
subsection (b) and (c) of section 1034 closes a
complaint under clause (i), such covered person
shall notify the unit established under this
paragraph of such closure and the reason for
such closure and such unit shall record such
information in the database established under
this paragraph.
``(G) Confidentiality.--
``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Bureau shall ensure
that narrative content included in complaints
submitted by consumers to the unit established
under this paragraph and narrative content
included in responses from covered persons who
are required to respond to complaints under
subsection (b) and (c) of section 1034 who
receive complaints from the unit established
under this paragraph remain confidential and
are not published or made publicly viewable.
``(ii) Aggregation of data.--The Bureau may
publish aggregated data about complaints
received from consumers and analyses of trends
in such complaints if such data and analyses do
not include personally identifiable information
or specific narrative content that could
reasonably be linked to an individual consumer
or covered person who is required to respond to
complaints under subsection (b) and (c) of
section 1034.''.
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