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Released: April 15, 2011

Eager consumers reach out to new US watchdog agency

Source: Maya Jackson Randall, Wall Street Journal [Dow Jones Newswires]

Brenda Smith, locked in a fight to keep from being foreclosed on her two-bedroom Panama City Beach, Fla., home, was determined to
speak with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There was just one problem—the consumer watchdog won’t open until the summer.

That hasn’t kept consumers like Smith from trying to reach the fledgling agency, created by last year’s passage of the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law. An average of 60 complaints a month has come in from people undeterred by the note on the bureau’s website explaining the lack of a posted phone number: “We can’t help yet because the Consumer Response Center is still being established.” Complaints have come by fax, regular mail and some enterprising consumers even find bureau email addresses.

Read Full Article: Eager consumers reach out to new US watchdog agency