AFSA Letter Argues for Pro-Consumer VPPs
AFSA sent a letter to Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Chair Steve Womack (R-AR) encouraging him to include language in the committee’s appropriations bill. The language would prevent the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from finalizing or implementing the “Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule.”
The letter noted that the FTC’s proposed rule would limit consumers’ ability to purchase voluntary protection products alongside vehicle purchases.
Americans value and appreciate the ability to purchase additional products to protect their car purchases, including service contracts, guaranteed asset protection, tire and wheel protection, and other asset protectors.
Limiting consumer options, especially at such an economically unstable time, will have negative consequences. AFSA Vice President of Congressional Affairs Ann Harter wrote, “In addition to the FTC’s inability to recognize the importance of voluntary protection products in automobile purchases, the FTC has neglected to follow the typical regulatory process in implementing the proposed rule.”
The FTC omitted the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking stage of regulation, a crucial part of the process for gathering information from stakeholders, like the industry it intends to regulate. Moreover, the FTC lacks sufficient justification, required under the Administrative Procedure Act, for the proposed rule in the first place.
Congressional oversight of this issue is needed to ensure that consumers are not harmed in vehicle purchases because of a faulty rule.
June 22nd, 2023
