InfoBytes Blog
CFPB proposes to rescind ability-to-repay standards in payday rule
On February 6, the CFPB released two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) related to certain payday lending requirements under the agency’s 2017 final rule covering “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans” (the Rule). As previously covered by InfoBytes, last October the Bureau announced plans to reconsider the Rule’s mandatory underwriting requirements and address the Rule’s compliance date.
The first NPRM proposed will rescind certain provisions of the Rule related to underwriting standards for payday loans and related products scheduled to take effect later this year. Specifically, the CFPB proposes to rescind the portion of the Rule that would make it an unfair and abusive practice for a lender to make covered high-interest rate, short-term loans or covered longer-term balloon payment loans without reasonably determining that the consumer has the ability to repay. The proposed changes would also rescind prescribed mandatory underwriting requirements for making the ability-to-repay determination, provisions exempting certain loans from the mandatory underwriting requirements, as well as related definitions, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. The CFPB explains that it now initially determines that the evidence underlying the identification of the unfair and abusive practice in the Rule “is not sufficiently robust and reliable to support that determination, in light of the impact those provisions will have on the market for covered short-term and longer-term balloon-payment loans, and the ability of consumers to obtain such loans, among other things.” If finalized, the proposals represent a significant change to the Rule as finalized during the tenure of former Bureau Director Richard Cordray in October 2017. (See Buckley Special Alert for more detailed coverage on the Rule.) Comments will be accepted for 90 days following publication in the Federal Register.
The second NPRM seeks to delay the Rule’s compliance date for mandatory underwriting provisions from August 19, 2019 to November 19, 2020. Notably, the Bureau states in a press release announcing the NPRMs that the proposal to delay the effective date does not extend to the Rule’s provisions governing payments, which “prohibit payday and certain other lenders from making a new attempt to withdraw funds from an account where two consecutive attempts have failed unless consumers consent to further withdrawals.” Lenders also will still be required to provide written notice to consumers both before the first attempt to withdraw payment from their accounts, as well as prior to subsequent attempts involving different dates, amounts, or payment channels. These provisions are not under reconsideration and will take effect August 19, 2019. Comments will be accepted for 30 days following publication in the Federal Register.