Special Report: Unwinding the CFPB

F&I tracks the rise and fall of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s aggressive but ultimately futile five-year assault on dealer participation.
F&I tracks the rise and fall of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s aggressive but ultimately futile five-year assault on dealer participation.
Thanks could be in order when the industry gets together for NADA 2018, as the editor hears that a resolution to the Military Lending Act controversy isn’t far off.
Representatives from the three major credit bureaus opened the 21st annual Vehicle Finance Conference and Exposition by confirming that there is no forming subprime bubble. They explained why and how millennials are contributing to a healthy auto finance market.
On Wednesday, more than 100 members of Congress called on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to proceed with its effort to eliminate forced arbitration.
At its May 5 field hearing in Albuquerque, N.M., the CFPB issued its proposal to ban mandatory arbitration clauses in finance contracts. Financial services providers will still be able to include arbitration clauses in finance contracts; they just can’t use the agreements to stop consumers from being part of a class action in court.
The Charles River Associates study commissioned by the American Financial Services Association was cited in the committee’s critical report on the CFPB’s methodology for alleging discrimination in auto finance.
The CFPB won’t lose a key weapon in its auto-lending crackdown, but the court’s 5-4 decision does open the door to challenges in auto finance.
The CFPB finalized last week its proposal to oversee nonbank auto finance companies. The finalized rule, which left out recommendations submitted by an auto finance trade group, will take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
CFPB Director Richard Cordray fielded questions about dealer compliance programs and a recent study calling out the bureau’s methods for determining discrimination during a semi-annual report to Congress earlier this month.
In a memo issued to the CFPB this week, the AFSA listed seven recommendations regarding the bureau’s proposed rule that would give it regulatory and supervisory authority over 30 nonbank auto finance companies.