Saturday, July 3, 2010

Congress agrees upon auto dealer exemption

The National Automobile Dealers Association has political muscle, and it wasn’t afraid to use it to get the highly sought-after auto dealer exemption from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversight. NADA spokesman Bailey Woods told Automotive News that House and Senate committees made the right decision, as the CFPB would make dealer financing for auto loan application more involved and ultimately a lot more costly. As it stands, it is Christmas in June for auto dealers; they lobbied and Congress delivered.

Source of article: Congressional committee agrees on auto dealer exemption by Car Deal Expert

A victory for auto dealer exemption

The Congressional committee’s decision on the auto dealer exemption puts car loans in a different sphere than credit cards, mortgages and other varieties of consumer credit. Arranging auto loans for people with bad credit in-house will be unhindered for those dealerships with the capability, but the CFPB will still keep watch on banks and credit unions that work with auto dealers. The FTC will continue to have jurisdiction over auto dealers, but their governance has proven ineffective in the estimation of some members of Congress (legislative action can take eight years). The rule system governing the FTC is much a lot more involved the rule set to which other government agencies must adhere, which may explain the inefficiency of the former.

Rep. Barney Frank bemoaned the lack of votes

Barney Frank and other House Democrats wanted auto dealers to be put on a leash, as did President Obama, the Pentagon, military families, consumer rights and civil rights grounds, indicates Automotive News. Where the finance bill began and where it ended up after NADA’s lobbying was a tale of the power of campaign contributions. When the larger goal fell out of reach, Frank and crew did obtain the concession that the FTC would be allowed a shorter turnaround time in their investigation efforts. Yet in spite of this, some consumers may nevertheless be subject to those practices of dealer finance that are labeled less than reputable by some. Auto dealers claim this is merely than making ends meet in a tough economy.

Find a lot more data here:

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100625/RETAIL07/100629912/1128



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