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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a report this week, said the CFPB's 2013 bulletin regarding indirect auto lending issued is a "rule" and should have been submitted to Congress for review – arguably rendering the bulletin ineffective.

CFPB Bulletin 2013-02, issued March 21, 2013, focuses on the potential for pricing disparities on the basis of race, national origin and possibly other prohibited factors by auto dealers that facilitate funding for consumers' auto purchases through indirect lenders. If there are disparities within the indirect lender's portfolio, lenders may be liable under the legal doctrines of both disparate treatment and disparate impact, the guidance states.

The GAO report, issued Dec. 5, was in response to a letter from Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. It concludes that "the Bulletin advises the public prospectively of the manner in which the CFPB proposes to exercise its discretionary enforcement power and fits squarely within the Supreme Court's definition of a statement of policy." It says the guidance is a rule subject to the requirements of the Congressional Review Act.

When the bulletin was issued, NAFCU argued that it potentially set the stage for making indirect lenders, including credit unions, liable for fair lending violations by auto dealers.