AFSA’s State Government Affairs team sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Nevada Financial Institutions Division on SB 311 as a follow up to an in-person meeting with the division on August 22nd. Effective October 1, SB 311 would require creditors to deem an applicant with no credit history to have identical credit history to a spouse’s or former spouse’s credit established during a marriage. While AFSA supports measures that responsibly expand consumers’ ability to access appropriate credit, AFSA expressed concern that provisions of SB 311 appear to be legally unworkable as both the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) preempt state law. In the letter, AFSA requested that the commissioner issue a notice of non-enforcement and seek an opinion from the Attorney General on the preemption issues raised by the law.

AFSA will be making important IT infrastructure upgrades beginning at 6:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, August 28. The AFSA website and social media accounts will not be impacted. However, AFSA staff will have intermittent access to their workstations and email accounts while the upgrades take place. We expect to complete the process by Noon on the 28th.

The AFSA Annual Meeting is right around the corner, and we are pleased to announce that The Wall Street Journal‘s Jason Riley will be a keynote speaker to our attendees.

The Delaware Bank Commissioner this week will award $340,000 to schools, non-profits, and community organizations to fund financial literacy courses, according to a report from Delaware Public Media. The state last distributed financial-literacy grants, which are funded via revenue from a license fee on businesses that extend high-cost payday and car title loans dollars, in 2017.

As the summer winds down and kids head back to school, it's a great time to reengage on the issues and opportunities facing the consumer credit industry. AFSA webinars are a great way to jump back in and get informed. Complimentary to AFSA members, the AFSA webinar program allows industry experts to share timely, educational topics directly with AFSA members. The webinars are designed to provide information that will allow AFSA members to more effectively design, develop and implement strategies for their company's success.

On August 13, 2019 the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a final credit score rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs). This rule implements requirement that were enacted as part of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018. The rule establishes the processes and standards that the GSEs will use in evaluating third-party credit scoring models. The evaluation of credit-score models will include the following four phases:

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Arkansas attorney general’s recent settlement with Andrew Gamber and the three companies he owned and operated – Voyager Financial Group LLC, BAIC Inc. and SoBell Corp. – highlights the challenges military servicemembers and veterans face when seeking credit or financial services.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal published an article (may be behind the paywall) entitled “That Offer to Make You Debt-Free? It Can Make You Worse Off.” The piece detailed the unethical practices that the debt-settlement industry uses to “get the consumer’s guard down.” These practices include offering a loan via pre-screened mailer without the intention of actually extending credit. The loan offers were used to entice consumers to sign up for a costly debt settlement program that would ultimately harm the consumer’s financial well-being.

Last week, AFSA State Government Affairs attended the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) 30th Annual Regulatory Conference in San Diego, California. The annual conference provides an opportunity for industry representatives to hear from regulators and discuss financial services issues at the state level. AARMR conference attendees include state and federal regulators and financial services licensees across industry types.

Join us on August 22 at 2 p.m. ET for Future of Lending: Innovations Driving Credit Decision, presented by Experian. Presenter Amy Graybill, VP, USIS Strategic Initiatives will walk attendees through advancements in data technology and how they can be used to make better credit decisions and increase profits.