A proposal that could change the payday lending rule currently set to kick in next August is expected to be out for comment by the spring of 2019, according to a blog post by the consumer protection bureau Wednesday on the agency’s fall regulatory agenda.
The agenda, which the bureau says it hopes to refine in the spring, currently lists numerous actions ahead addressing a review of rules required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) as well as rules changed under this year’s Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA).
Not all of the EGRRCPA mandates are detailed in the bureau’s Thursday blog post or in its portion of the Unified Agenda that all the agencies maintain. The bureau notes, for example, that it is still under interim leadership [of Acting Director John (“Mick”) Mulvaney], is in the process of implementing various EGRRCPA requirements, and is conducting its first Dodd-Frank Act-required assessments of the effectiveness of prior “significant” rulemakings. It says it’s also analyzing more than 86,000 comments received in response to its “call for evidence” initiative.
“Following consideration of these various initiatives, the Bureau expects to refine its rulemaking priorities no later than the Spring 2019 Agenda and will publish an updated statement of priorities at that time,” it says.
Following is a brief look at some of the bureau’s priorities highlighted in Thursday’s blog post.
HMDA collection and reporting: Rule changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data collection requirements, called for under EGRRCPA, will get additional action in the spring of 2019, the bureau said. The bureau plans a notice-and-comment rulemaking that would incorporate the interpretive and procedural rule under EGRRCPA (released this summer) and address the partial HMDA exemptions provided in the reform law. (These will be considered alongside changes the bureau approved in 2017.)
HMDA data disclosure: Following on a requirement of Dodd-Frank, the bureau plans to issue final guidance in the “next few months” to further implement a Dodd-Frank directive that the Bureau modify or require modification of the public HMDA data for the purpose of protecting consumer privacy interests. The bureau says it expects to issue final guidance in the next few months to govern public disclosure of 2018 HMDA data in accordance with standards it set for balancing privacy interests in a 2015 final rule. Having considered comments urging that disclosure of loan-level HMDA data be addressed through more formal processes, a proposed rule to govern the disclosure of HMDA data in future years is also planned.
Payday rule: The 2017 payday rule – titled the Payday,Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans and currently set to take effect Aug. 19, 2019 – will be the focus of a notice of proposed rulemaking “by no later than early 2019 that will address reconsideration of the rule on the merits as well as address changes to its compliance date,” the bureau says.
Debt collection: The bureau continues research and pre-rulemaking activities regarding the debt collection market, “which remains a top source of complaints to the Bureau,” the agency says. It also notes having received “encouragement from industry and consumer groups” to address how to apply the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to modern collection practices. “By March 2019, the Bureau expects to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing such issues as communication practices and consumer disclosures,” it says.
“Abusive” practices: The bureau’s been reexamining the requirements of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) concerning the disparate impact doctrine in light of recent Supreme Court case law and Congress’ disapproval of a prior bureau bulletin concerning indirect auto lender compliance with ECOA. “The Bureau is also considering how rulemaking may be helpful to further clarify the meaning of ‘abusiveness’ under the section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Act,” it says.
Future EGRRCPA projects: The bureau plans a rulemaking to exempt certain creditors with assets of $10 billion or less from certain mortgage escrow requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act; and a rulemaking to develop standards for assessing consumers’ ability to repay Property Assess Clean Energy (PACE) financing.
Data reporting on businesses: Given the need to focus more resources on HMDA initiatives, the bureau says it has moved from “pre-rule” status to “longer-term” status its timeline for implementing Dodd-Frank changes to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to collect, report, and make public certain information concerning credit applications made by women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.
Other activity under EGRRCPA include a review of compliance guides and examination manuals to make appropriate updates, as well as engaging with stakeholders regarding the issuance of guidance to meet the statutory requirements and facilitate compliance. “In particular, EGRRCPA calls upon the Bureau to provide clearer, authoritative guidance on certain issues, in connection with regulations that integrate certain mortgage disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA),” the bureau notes.
Fall 2018 rulemaking agenda (Blog post)