Financial trade groups say CFPB lacks authority to collect auto lending data

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does not have the authority to collect data on auto loans, a coalition of financial services trade groups, including America’s Credit Unions, wrote in a letter to the agency this week.

“The Bureau is not a research institute; it exists to safeguard consumers, and its data collection must be in service of that goal,” the groups wrote. “The contrary position, that the Bureau may collect data unrelated to its own rulemaking, enforcement, and other activities, would give the Bureau nearly unbounded discretion to demand data.”

The CFPB is proposing to annually collect data from lenders that originated more than 20,000 loans in the previous calendar year. The agency also proposes to collect limited data from lenders that originated more than 500 loans and fewer than 20,000 in the previous calendar year.

“The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act charges the CFPB with monitoring for risks to consumers in the offering or provision of consumer financial products or services, including developments in markets for such products or services,” the agency said, in announcing its proposal in January “The CFPB has previously researched and documented significant gaps in available auto finance data.”

 

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