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The Senate, by a 51-47 vote Wednesday, repealed the CFPB's 2013 bulletin regarding indirect auto lending using the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The resolution is expected to pass the House, and President Donald Trump is likely to sign the measure.

This is the first use of the CRA on regulatory guidance that was never submitted to Congress as a rule. Senate Republicans invoked the CRA on this regulatory action based on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that the CFPB's bulletin was generally enforced by the bureau the same way as a rule, yet was never submitted to Congress for review as is protocol for all rules created by regulators. Because Congress never reviewed the bulletin, the CRA's 60-legislative-day clock never started, thus never expired.

While NAFCU and credit unions strongly support fair lending, the association 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."

NAFCU is following this development as part of the association's efforts to ensure broad regulatory relief for credit unions. Creating a positive regulatory environment for credit unions with appropriate and tailored regulations is part of NAFCU's 2018 advocacy priorities.