The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) has announced the launch of a finalized version of its online portal to assist Michigan consumers with the filing of electronic complaints. DIFS' Office of Consumer Services stated it plans on using the tool to "start the initial review of complaints against insurance entities, banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, payday lenders, vehicle loans, personal loans, money transfers, and debt management transactions." DIFS launched a beta version of the complaint portal in August 2016 and received, via the new portal, 476 of the total 1,961 complaints that were made through the end of the year.
The portal shares several similarities with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) online complaint portal. The CFPB's complaint portal would be eliminated under the Financial Choice Act currently being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives. If the CFPB complaint portal is eliminated, potentially other states may follow the path of the Michigan DIFS.