FTC
Est. 1914
Federal Trade Commission
Regulates non-bank financial companies. Primary federal authority over debt collectors.
Parent
Independent federal agency
Jurisdiction
Non-bank financial companies: debt collectors, credit repair firms, fintechs, payday lenders
Headline
Debt collector enforcement · FDCPA · Non-bank financial companies
What the FTC is
The FTC is the primary federal consumer protection agency for companies that are not banks. In financial services, this means debt collectors, credit repair organisations, payday lenders, fintechs, and any financial services company that does not hold a bank charter. The FTC enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the FTC Act's prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP).
What the FTC does
- Enforces the FDCPA against debt collectors — prohibiting harassment, false statements, and unfair collection practices
- Enforces the FCRA against credit bureaus and users of credit reports
- Brings cases against fintechs, payday lenders, and non-bank financial companies for deceptive practices
- Issues civil investigative demands and seeks civil money penalties in federal court
- Publishes enforcement actions in a public case database
- Accepts consumer fraud reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov
Why ComplaintRate uses FTC data
FTC enforcement actions against financial companies signal deceptive or unfair practices that reached the threshold of federal court action. ComplaintRate scrapes the FTC enforcement case database and matches institutions to the main database — flagging companies where the FTC has taken formal legal action. FTC actions are particularly significant for debt collectors and non-bank lenders where CFPB authority may be limited or absent.
What FTC data means for you
If you are dealing with a debt collector, a credit repair company, a payday lender, or a fintech that is not a bank, the FTC is your primary federal regulator — not the CFPB or bank regulators. An FTC enforcement action on ComplaintRate indicates the agency has taken federal court action against that company for deceptive or unfair practices. File complaints with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. FDCPA violations carry statutory damages of $1,000 per violation — many consumer attorneys take these cases on contingency.
FTC fields in ComplaintRate database
ftc_has_actionftc_active_actionsftc_action_typesftc_most_recent_actionftc_total_cmp_usdOther data sources
ComplaintRate.com is an independent data publisher and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any U.S. federal agency. Data sourced from publicly available government databases.