# CFPB Consumer Complaints Scraper (`crawlergang/cfpb-complaints-scraper`) Actor

Scrape consumer financial complaints from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) public database. Filter by product, company, state, response type, and date range.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlergang/cfpb-complaints-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Crawler Gang](https://apify.com/crawlergang) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 11 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Complaints Scraper

Scrape consumer financial complaints from the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/) public database. Filter by product type, company, state, company response, submission channel, and date range.

### Features

- Search the full CFPB complaint database (over 4 million records)
- Filter by product, company, state, response type, and submission method
- Date range filtering for targeted research
- Consumer complaint narratives when publicly available
- Automatic pagination — collect up to 10,000 records per run
- No authentication required — uses CFPB's public API

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `mode` | Select | Always `searchComplaints` |
| `searchTerm` | Text | Free-text search (e.g. `credit card fraud`, `unauthorized charges`) |
| `product` | Select | Financial product type (Credit card, Mortgage, Student loan, etc.) |
| `state` | Select | U.S. state or territory (2-letter code) |
| `companyResponse` | Select | How the company responded to the complaint |
| `submittedVia` | Select | Submission channel (Web, Phone, Referral, etc.) |
| `dateReceivedMin` | Text | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD format) |
| `dateReceivedMax` | Text | End date (YYYY-MM-DD format) |
| `company` | Text | Company name (e.g. Chase, Equifax, Bank of America) |
| `maxItems` | Integer | Maximum records to return (1–10000, default 100) |

#### Example Input

```json
{
  "mode": "searchComplaints",
  "searchTerm": "unauthorized charges",
  "product": "Credit card",
  "state": "CA",
  "dateReceivedMin": "2023-01-01",
  "dateReceivedMax": "2023-12-31",
  "maxItems": 500
}
```

### Output

Each record contains:

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `complaintId` | String | Unique CFPB complaint ID |
| `dateReceived` | String | Date complaint was received |
| `product` | String | Financial product type |
| `subProduct` | String | Sub-product classification |
| `issue` | String | Primary issue category |
| `subIssue` | String | Sub-issue detail |
| `consumerComplaintNarrative` | String | Consumer's account of the complaint (if consented) |
| `companyPublicResponse` | String | Company's public response statement |
| `company` | String | Company name |
| `state` | String | Consumer's state |
| `zipCode` | String | Consumer's ZIP code (partial) |
| `tags` | Array | Tags (e.g. Servicemember, Older American) |
| `consumerConsentProvided` | String | Whether consumer consented to share narrative |
| `submittedVia` | String | How the complaint was submitted |
| `dateSentToCompany` | String | When complaint was forwarded to company |
| `timely` | Boolean | Whether company responded timely |
| `consumerDisputed` | String | Whether consumer disputed the response |
| `companyResponse` | String | Company's response to the consumer |
| `sourceUrl` | String | Direct link to the complaint on CFPB website |
| `scrapedAt` | String | ISO timestamp of when data was scraped |
| `recordType` | String | Always `"complaint"` |

#### Example Output

```json
{
  "complaintId": "7654321",
  "dateReceived": "2023-06-15",
  "product": "Credit card",
  "subProduct": "General-purpose credit card or charge card",
  "issue": "Problem with a purchase shown on your statement",
  "subIssue": "Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement",
  "company": "JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.",
  "state": "CA",
  "submittedVia": "Web",
  "timely": true,
  "companyResponse": "Closed with explanation",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/search/?search_term=&size=25#7654321",
  "scrapedAt": "2024-01-28T10:30:00+00:00",
  "recordType": "complaint"
}
```

### FAQ

**Do I need an API key?**
No. The CFPB provides a completely public API that requires no authentication.

**How many complaints are in the database?**
The CFPB database contains over 4 million consumer complaints dating back to 2011.

**Can I get complaint narratives?**
Yes, when consumers consent to sharing their narrative, it appears in the `consumerComplaintNarrative` field.

**What does `timely` mean?**
It indicates whether the company responded to the complaint within the CFPB's required timeframe.

**How do I filter by company?**
Use the `company` field with the company name as it appears in the CFPB database (e.g. `EQUIFAX, INC.`, `JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.`).

**What date format should I use?**
Use `YYYY-MM-DD` format for `dateReceivedMin` and `dateReceivedMax` (e.g. `2023-01-01`).

**Is this data official?**
Yes, all data comes directly from the CFPB's official public database at consumerfinance.gov.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Scraping mode — currently only searchComplaints is supported.

## `searchTerm` (type: `string`):

Free-text search across complaint narratives and descriptions.

## `product` (type: `string`):

Filter by financial product type.

## `state` (type: `string`):

Filter by U.S. state or territory.

## `companyResponse` (type: `string`):

Filter by how the company responded to the complaint.

## `submittedVia` (type: `string`):

Filter by how the complaint was submitted.

## `dateReceivedMin` (type: `string`):

Filter complaints received on or after this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD).

## `dateReceivedMax` (type: `string`):

Filter complaints received on or before this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD).

## `company` (type: `string`):

Filter by company name (e.g. Chase, Bank of America, Equifax).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of complaint records to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "searchComplaints",
  "searchTerm": "credit card fraud",
  "product": "",
  "state": "",
  "companyResponse": "",
  "submittedVia": "",
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `complaints` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing all scraped CFPB consumer complaint records.

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "mode": "searchComplaints",
    "searchTerm": "credit card fraud",
    "product": "",
    "state": "",
    "companyResponse": "",
    "submittedVia": "",
    "maxItems": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("crawlergang/cfpb-complaints-scraper").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "mode": "searchComplaints",
    "searchTerm": "credit card fraud",
    "product": "",
    "state": "",
    "companyResponse": "",
    "submittedVia": "",
    "maxItems": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("crawlergang/cfpb-complaints-scraper").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 '{
  "mode": "searchComplaints",
  "searchTerm": "credit card fraud",
  "product": "",
  "state": "",
  "companyResponse": "",
  "submittedVia": "",
  "maxItems": 100
}' |
apify call crawlergang/cfpb-complaints-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlergang/cfpb-complaints-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/3NCkR7TR05ytfciCM/builds/6fEe63W91FbtYUsRn/openapi.json