# CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Crawler (`jungle_synthesizer/cfpb-complaint-crawler`) Actor Crawl 14M+ consumer financial complaints from the CFPB database. Extract complaint details, company responses, narratives, and geographic data. Filter by company, product, state, date range, and narrative availability. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/cfpb-complaint-crawler.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** Business, Other, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## 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](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/) 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:** ```json { "company": "EQUIFAX, INC.", "hasNarrative": true, "maxItems": 100 } ```` **Search for identity theft complaints in California:** ```json { "searchTerm": "identity theft", "state": "CA", "maxItems": 100 } ``` **Get all mortgage complaints from 2025:** ```json { "product": "Mortgage", "dateFrom": "2025-01-01", "dateTo": "2025-12-31", "maxItems": 100 } ``` ### Sample Output ```json { "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. # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `searchTerm` (type: `string`): Full text search across complaint narratives and fields. E.g., 'overdraft fee', 'identity theft'. Leave empty for all complaints. ## `company` (type: `string`): Filter by company name (e.g., 'BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION', 'EQUIFAX, INC.'). Case-sensitive, must match exactly. Leave empty for all. ## `product` (type: `string`): Filter by financial product category. ## `state` (type: `string`): Filter by US state code (e.g., 'CA', 'NY', 'TX'). Leave empty for all states. ## `dateFrom` (type: `string`): Return complaints received on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). ## `dateTo` (type: `string`): Return complaints received on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). ## `hasNarrative` (type: `boolean`): If checked, only return complaints that include the consumer's written narrative. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of complaint records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Select proxies. CFPB is a government service and does not require proxies. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "searchTerm": "", "company": "", "product": "", "state": "", "dateFrom": "", "dateTo": "", "hasNarrative": false, "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/cfpb-complaint-crawler").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "searchTerm": "", "company": "", "product": "", "state": "", "dateFrom": "", "dateTo": "", "hasNarrative": False, "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/cfpb-complaint-crawler").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "searchTerm": "", "company": "", "product": "", "state": "", "dateFrom": "", "dateTo": "", "hasNarrative": false, "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/cfpb-complaint-crawler --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/cfpb-complaint-crawler", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Crawler", "description": "Crawl 14M+ consumer financial complaints from the CFPB database. Extract complaint details, company responses, narratives, and geographic data. Filter by company, product, state, date range, and narrative availability.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "vvk5ba7ndr7H7R1mL" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~cfpb-complaint-crawler/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-cfpb-complaint-crawler", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~cfpb-complaint-crawler/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-cfpb-complaint-crawler", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~cfpb-complaint-crawler/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-cfpb-complaint-crawler", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "sp_intended_usage", "sp_improvement_suggestions" ], "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "searchTerm": { "title": "Search Term", "type": "string", "description": "Full text search across complaint narratives and fields. E.g., 'overdraft fee', 'identity theft'. Leave empty for all complaints." }, "company": { "title": "Company Name", "type": "string", "description": "Filter by company name (e.g., 'BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION', 'EQUIFAX, INC.'). Case-sensitive, must match exactly. Leave empty for all." }, "product": { "title": "Product", "enum": [ "", "Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports", "Debt collection", "Credit card", "Mortgage", "Checking or savings account", "Student loan", "Vehicle loan or lease", "Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service", "Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance", "Prepaid card" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter by financial product category." }, "state": { "title": "State", "type": "string", "description": "Filter by US state code (e.g., 'CA', 'NY', 'TX'). Leave empty for all states." }, "dateFrom": { "title": "Received After", "type": "string", "description": "Return complaints received on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)." }, "dateTo": { "title": "Received Before", "type": "string", "description": "Return complaints received on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)." }, "hasNarrative": { "title": "With Consumer Narrative Only", "type": "boolean", "description": "If checked, only return complaints that include the consumer's written narrative." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of complaint records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited.", "default": 100 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Select proxies. CFPB is a government service and does not require proxies." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```