In January 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formed a Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law to examine the existing legal and regulatory environment facing consumer and financial services providers, including those offering automotive financing. The CFPB is expected to release a report containing the Taskforce’s recommendations to improve and strengthen consumer financial laws and regulations sometime in early January 2021.
The Taskforce was conceived to produce a legal analysis of consumer financial laws. They were tasked with focusing on updating the applicable laws and regulations and identifying potential gaps to improve consumer understanding of financial products and any potential conflicts in existing regulations.
It is widely expected that the report will reflect the regulatory priorities of the outgoing Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration will not likely view the issues the same way. What is most critical to the dealership community is that automotive financing remains on the CFPB’s radar screen and will likely receive renewed focus when the Biden administration takes office.