Rep. Paul Cook, R-Calif., is requesting signatures from his House colleagues on a letter asking the Department of Defense to exempt credit unions from the July 2015 amendments to the Military Lending Act. Credit unions are encouraged to urge their representatives to sign the letter.

“It has come to our attention that the MLA regulation—particularly the July 2015 amendments—has caused numerous financial institutions to eliminate products and services, many of which have been relied on by servicemembers and their families,” the letter states. “Specifically, we have heard from credit unions that they are being forced to cut back on, or eliminate, products that help find solutions for credit for servicemembers and their families that may have few or much worse other options.”

The letter acknowledges that while the MLA changes “have proven effective in broadening the scope of products and services targeted by … lenders, it has also had the unintended effect of overregulating others, such as our nation’s almost 6,000 credit unions, which serve 110 million members.”

 

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