WASHINGTON—The House Financial Services Committee is marking up nine bills this week related to cybersecurity, mortgage access, student lending, credit scores, and minority depository institutions. In its analysis, NAFCU offered the association's support for some of the legislation and provided credit unions' perspective on the issues.
Brad Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs, sent a letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters, (D-CA), Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and committee members to offer comments on:
- Minority depository institutions (MDIs): Two bills being considered by the committee – the Expanding Opportunity for MDIs Act (H.R. 5315) and the Ensuring Diversity in Community Banking Act (H.R. 5322) – would "help MDIs grow and thrive," Thaler wrote, as they would establish MDI advisory committees, require regulators to submit annual reports to Congress on diversity, and foster mentorship of MDIs.
- Ability-to-repay (ATR)/qualified mortgage (QM) standard: Thaler shared NAFCU's support for the Self-Employed Mortgage Access Act (H.R. 2445), which would require the CFPB to amend the ATR/QM standard to allow lenders to use standards from Appendix Q to verify monthly debt and income, or substitute government program mortgage standards. "Credit unions are responsible lenders who work hard to ensure their members do not obtain mortgages they cannot afford, and this legislation would allow them to more expeditiously lend to credit-worthy self-employed borrowers," Thaler wrote. The CFPB in July issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to revise the general QM definition.
- Credit score reporting: Thaler noted that NAFCU is supportive of efforts to promote accuracy in consumer reports and increase transparency. The committee is set to consider the Protecting Your Credit Score Act (H.R. 5332), which would create a single online portal for consumers to access and manage their credit reports at today's markup. However, Thaler warned of potential unintended consequences of the bill that could allow predatory credit repair companies to abuse the system.
In addition, Thaler thanked the committee for its efforts to promote cybersecurity and reiterated the association's call for a national data security standard. He also noted how credit unions work to support student borrowers – through scholarships and affordable loans – which complement the committee's efforts to protect students and curb abusive debt collection practices.