BILL INCLUDES IMPORTANT CFPB REFORMS, REPEALS FLAWED AUTO FINANCING GUIDANCE

WASHINGTON (June 8, 2017) - The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) on Thursday praised the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act, a comprehensive financial reform bill that includes significant and much-needed reforms to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and relief for consumers facing the prospect of higher costs for financing vehicle purchases.

The CHOICE Act, which passed the House by a 233-186 vote, includes a bipartisan provision that is virtually identical to H.R. 1737, an NADA-backed bill from the last Congress, which overwhelming passed the House by a vote of 332-96. This provision would nullify the CFPB's guidance on indirect auto financing, which attempted to eliminate a dealer's ability to discount credit in the showroom. H.R. 10 also requires the Bureau to: provide public notice and comment before issuing any additional auto-financing guidance; make publicly available all studies, data, methodologies or other information relied upon to produce the guidance; and study the costs and impacts of the guidance. The CHOICE Act also brings the CFPB under the regular congressional appropriations process for the first time, which is another reform NADA has long supported.

“Access to affordable credit is essential to customers and their dealers,” said NADA President and CEO Peter Welch. “Chairman Hensarling, members of the House Financial Services Committee, and the Members of Congress who supported H.R. 10 and worked to include these vital consumer protections should be commended for their efforts to keep auto financing affordable and available to consumers everywhere. I look forward to the Senate taking timely actions to help cement these consumer protections into law.”

“America's franchised new-car dealers have always been on the side of our customers, which is why we have so strenuously opposed the CFPB's anti-consumer guidance that would have raised the cost of car and truck loans, and pushed otherwise-creditworthy customers out of the auto credit market altogether,” said NADA Chairman Mark Scarpelli. “And we will continue to be on the side of our customers by urging Congress to get this legislation across the finish line, and by continuing to promote the voluntary NADA/NAMAD/AIADA Fair Credit Compliance Program that effectively manages fair-credit risk while preserving discounts on credit for consumers.”