WASHINGTON—The House Tuesday passed disapproval for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (BCFP) indirect auto lending bulletin in a 234-175 vote.
Both CUNA and NAFCU supported the legislation, SJ Res. 57, which would void the guidance bulletin using the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
"As member-owned financial cooperatives, small credit unions are harmed most by poorly tailored rules and policymaking," said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. "Bureau bulletins should be subject to the CRA as it has been a successful tool in combating unnecessary regulatory burdens for credit unions."
While CUNA supports the fair lending measure, it strongly opposes discriminatory practices, the trade association said. “Credit unions appreciate the efforts by Congress to curtail policymaking conducted outside of the authority granted to the Bureau,” CUNA said.
NAFCU said it strongly supports fair lending, but worried that the bulletin could potentially set the stage for making indirect lenders, including credit unions, liable for fair lending violations by auto dealers.
"As we noted when the CFPB's indirect auto lending guidance was issued in 2013, NAFCU supports fair lending and opposes discrimination," said NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler. "We believe, however, that the CFPB's use of guidance in this matter to create additional requirements for indirect auto lending was troubling and warranted additional scrutiny. While the unprecedented use of the CRA on guidance may create future uncertainty, we are supportive of Congress finding ways to provide credit unions the flexibility to best serve their members. We look forward to working with the CFPB to address our concerns on this issue."
The vote marks the first time that Congress has successfully used the Congressional Review Act resolution to block a years-old agency action outside of the narrow window provided by the law.