AFSA Submits Amicus on CFPB/NY Lawsuit
AFSA joined with the Consumer Bankers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an amicus brief supporting a motion to dismiss a joint Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and New York Attorney General (NY AG) enforcement action.
In January 2023, the CFPB and NY AG filed a lawsuit alleging an auto finance company engaged in predatory lending practices.
The joint trade brief provides important information about the vehicle finance industry, the CFPB and NY AG’s overreach, and the negative effect the government’s legal theories could have on all sorts of retail creditors and consumers.
First, the brief argues that the CFPB and NY AG “… are amending settled law that the financial services industry has been operating under, and relying on, for decades, and they are doing so outside of the formal notice-and-comment rulemaking process by filing suit against a single finance company …” Second, the brief states that the rules the CFPB and NY AG “… attempt to promulgate through litigation, would, if accepted, have a substantial negative impact on the retail sales finance industry, as well as the consumers that Congress tasked the Bureau with protecting.”
In addition, a group of U.S. Representatives on the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to the CFPB expressing concerns about the lawsuit usurping the proper legislative and rulemaking process and requesting responses to questions posed within. The letter suggests that the CFPB’s actions could leave millions of hardworking Americans unable to access credit to buy a car.
March 22nd, 2023
