FR1379_20230224_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire,
Federal Reserve Consumer Help - Consumer Survey,
Consumer Complaint Form, and Interagency Appraisal Complaint Form
(FR 1379; OMB No. 7100-0135)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority
delegated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended for three years, with
revision, the Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire (FR 1379a), Federal Reserve Consumer Help
- Consumer Survey (FR 1379b), Consumer Complaint Form (FR 1379c), and Interagency
Appraisal Complaint Form (FR 1379d) (collectively FR 1379; OMB No. 7100-0135).
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The FR 1379a is sent to consumers who have filed complaints with the Federal Reserve
against state member banks or other financial institutions supervised by the Board. The
information is used to assess the satisfaction of the consumers with the Federal Reserve’s
handling of, and written response to, their complaints at the conclusion of an
investigation.
The FR 1379b is a survey sent to consumers who contact the Federal Reserve Consumer
Help (FRCH) desk 1 to file a complaint or inquiry. The information is used to determine
whether consumers are satisfied with the way the FRCH handled their complaint.
The FR 1379c form addresses the burden associated with consumers electronically
submitting a complaint against a financial institution to the FRCH.
The FR 1379d form collects information about complaints regarding a regulated
institution’s non-compliance with the appraisal independence standards and the Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, including complaints from appraisers,
individuals, and other entities.

The Board discontinued the FR 1379a and FR 1379b surveys effective immediately as
the Board has not administered these surveys to consumers in at least 10 years. The FR 1379c
and FR 1379d remain unchanged.
The current estimated total annual burden for the FR 1379 is 2,144 hours, and would
decrease to 1,977 hours. The revisions would result in a decrease of 167 hours. The forms and
instructions are available on the Board’s public website at
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/ReportingForms/.
Background and Justification
A 1976 staff report by the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs of the House Committee
on Banking, Currency and Housing recommended the periodic evaluation of the Federal
Reserve’s complaint-handling system. In response, the Board developed the Consumer
Satisfaction Questionnaire in May 1977 to be sent to consumers whose complaints against state
1

See https://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/.

member banks were referred to a Federal Reserve Bank for investigation. Completion of the
questionnaire is voluntary. In 1999, the Board extended distribution of the questionnaire to all
consumers who have filed complaints involving state member banks and began requesting that
consumers provide certain demographic information. The questionnaire has been revised from
time to time, most recently in 2008, to assess consumer attitudes more accurately .
In 2012, the interagency appraisal complaint form was created to assist in ef forts to
oversee the appraisal practices of Board-supervised institutions. Appraisal complaints are
submitted to the appropriate agency using the Interagency Appraisal Complaint Form and are
filed directly by an appraiser, other individual, financial institution, or other entities.
In November 2017, the Federal Reserve System launched the FRCH website,
https://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/, a new centralized resource that consolidates and
streamlines the Federal Reserve System’s intake of consumer complaints and inquiries. The
FRCH is operated by existing call centers and staff at the Kansas City an d Minneapolis Reserve
Banks.
Description of Information Collection
Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire (FR 1379a)
The Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire is a six-question questionnaire that is sent to a
consumer after investigation of the consumer’s complaint against a state member bank. Although
participation is optional, the questionnaire indicates that the responses would help improve the
Federal Reserve’s service to consumers.
The Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire includes four questions that ask consumers to
indicate their level of satisfaction with the Federal Reserve’s investigation. The fifth question
asks consumers to indicate how they learned about the Federal Reserve’s consumer complaint
program, and the sixth question asks whether they would contact the Federal Reserve again for
assistance.
Federal Reserve Consumer Help - Consumer Survey (FR 1379b)
The Federal Reserve Consumer Help - Consumer Survey is a five-question survey sent to
consumers who contacted the FRCH to file a complaint or inquiry.
Consumer Complaint Form (FR 1379c)
The Consumer Complaint Form is an online, fillable complaint form.2 Consumers can
electronically complete and submit the complaint form on the FRCH website thereby increasing
the speed with which consumers can transmit their complaint and receive a response from FRCH
staff.

2

The FR 1379c online form is available at
https://forms.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/secure/complaint/formComplaintIntro.html.

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Alternatively, consumers may download a PDF version of the complaint form from the
FRCH website 3 and submit a completed form either by mail or fax to the FRCH. The complaint
form asks consumers for their contact information, information about the institution they are
filing a complaint against, a description of the complaint, and how it can be satisfactorily
addressed.
Interagency Appraisal Complaint Form (FR 1379d)
The Interagency Appraisal Complaint Form is an online, fillable complaint form.4
Consumers can electronically complete and submit the complaint form on the FRCH website
thereby increasing the speed with which consumers can transmit their complaint and receive a
response from FRCH staff.
Alternatively, consumers may download a PDF version of the complaint form from the
FRCH website 5 and submit a completed form either by mail or fax to the FRCH.
Respondent Panel
The FR 1379 panel comprises appraisers, individuals, and other entities.
Frequency
The FR 1379 is submitted on an event-generated basis.
Revisions to the FR 1379
The Board discontinued the FR 1379a and FR1379b surveys. The Board has not
administered these surveys to consumers in at least 10 years and does not foresee a need to
administer those surveys in the future.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
There are no established time schedules for completing the consumer satisfaction
questionnaire, consumer survey, online complaint form, or appraisal complaint form because
their use by consumers is voluntary. These collections are event generated, and submission is
voluntary.

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A PDF version of the FR 1379c is available at
https://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/~/media/Files/complaint/complaintform.pdf.
4
The FR 1379d online form is available at
https://forms.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/secure/appraisal/FormAppraisalIntro.html.
5
A PDF version of the FR 1379d is available at
https://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/~/media/Files/appraisal/appraisalComplaintForm.pdf.

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Public Availability of Data
The data collected on the FR 1379 family of forms is not publicly available, but may be
aggregated and published in the Board’s annual report to Congress and other internal reports.
Legal Status
The Board uses information obtained via the FR 1379 forms to fulfill its obligations
under section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. § 1818),6 section 11(a) of the
Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. § 248(a)),7 and Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform,
Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. § 3339).8 The FR 1379 forms are voluntary.
Individual respondents may request confidential treatment in accordance with the Board’s
Rules Regarding Availability of Information. 9 Requests for confidential treatment of information
are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. To the extent information provided under these collections
is nonpublic commercial or financial information, which is both customarily and actually treated
as private by the respondent, or to the extent the information reflects personnel and medical files,
the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the
information may be protected from disclosure pursuant to FOIA exemption 4 or 6, respectively
(5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(4) or (b)(6)).
Determinations regarding disclosure of the information collected via the FR 1379 forms
will be made in accordance with the Privacy Act. 10 A hyperlink directing the respondent to the
relevant Privacy Act statement is provided in these forms on the Board’s website.
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside the Federal Reserve System.
Public Comments
On October 13, 2022, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register (87
FR 62104) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the
FR 1379. The comment period for this notice expired on December 12, 2022. The Board did not
receive any comments. The Board adopted the extension, with revision, of the FR 1379 as
originally proposed. On January 27, 2023, the Board published a final notice in the Federal
Register (88 FR 5342).

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Authorizing the Board to enforce compliance with laws against entities within its jurisdiction, including state
member banks.
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Authorizing the Board to examine the affairs of each Federal Reserve Bank and of each member bank.
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Requiring the Board to prescribe appropriate standards for the performance of real estate appraisals in connection
with federally related transactions under its jurisdiction.
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12 CFR 261.17.
10
5 U.S.C. § 552a(b).

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Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 1379 is 2,144
hours, and would decrease to 1,977 hours with the revisions. The number of respondents is based
on the number of consumer complaints filed using the FR 1379c and FR 1379d forms in 2021.
The average hours per response is based on the estimated average amount of time required to
complete and submit the form to FRCH. These reporting requirements represent less than 1
percent of the Board’s total paperwork burden.

FR 1379
Current
FR 1379a
FR 1379b
FR 1379c
FR 1379d

Estimated
number of
respondents

Estimated
annual
frequency

Estimated
average hours
per response

Estimated
annual burden
hours

551
1,455
11,853
3

1
1
1
1

0.08333
0.08333
0.16666
0.5

46
121
1,975
2
2,144

11,853
3

1
1

0.16666
0.5

1,975
2
1,977

Current Total
Proposed
FR 1379c
FR 1379d
Proposed Total
Change

( 167)

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR 1379 is $60,032, and would
decrease to $55,356 with the revisions.11
Sensitive Questions
Individuals submit contact information on the FR 1379c and FR 1379d including, but not
limited to, the individual’s name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. The
FR 1379 may also contain personal information provided by the consumer relevant to the
consumer’s complaint or inquiry including information related to the consumer’s transactions
with specific financial institutions. This information they provide is not particularly sensitive in
nature and is necessary to permit the Board to perform its responsibilities under the Federal
Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, and other consumer protection laws to respond to
consumer complaints and inquiries regarding practices by banks and other financial institutions
supervised by the Board. Information collected as part of the application process is stored in the
system of records BGFRS-18 Consumer Complaint Information (73 FR 24984) and it is also

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The average consumer cost of $28 is estimated using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),
Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021, published March 31, 2022,
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm.

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accounted for by the Privacy Impact Assessment of the Consumer Complaint and Inquiry
Systems.12
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The estimated cost to the Federal Reserve System is minimal for printing, distributing,
and processing. Only the Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire is administered by mail; the
Federal Reserve Consumer Help - Consumer Survey, Consumer Complaint Form, and
Interagency Appraisal Complaint Form are administered electronically.

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A PDF version of the Consumer Complaint Information stored in the system of records is available at Federal
Reserve Board - System of Records Notices (SORNs), https://www.federalreserve.gov/system-of-recordsnotices.htm. A PDF version of the Privacy Impact Assessment of the Consumer Complaint and Inquiry Systems is
available at Federal Reserve Board - Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), https://www.federalreserve.gov/privacyimpact-assessments.htm.

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