On June 2, 2016, the CFPB released its long-awaited proposed regulations for payday loans, vehicle title and certain high-cost installment loans.  Comments on the proposed rules must be received on or before September 14, 2016.

While most payday lenders would need to make significant changes to their products and practices under the proposed rules, the final rules could well be delayed though legal challenges in court.  The scope of the proposal is extraordinary, even requiring a new credit reporting system, that would need to be built, to facilitate the ability-to-repay requirements of the proposal.  The CFPB is relying on its authority under the Dodd-Frank UDAAP provisions to issue the rules, which is admittedly very broad, but even that might not be enough to support this ambitious proposal.

Nevertheless, because we cannot predict how courts would ultimately rule on the CFPB’s authority, it’s important to understand the proposed rules, prepare comments, and consider what business model changes might be needed.   This article therefore summarizes the key provisions of the proposal.

In two recent posts on BryanCavePayments.com, Bryan Cave attorneys have addressed new developments related to the CFPB’s efforts to regulate payday lenders through their banking relationships as well as statements from New York’s top banking regulators suggesting that bank executives should be held personally liable for anti-money laundering violations.

On April 1st (but unfortunately not part of any April Fools joke), John Reveal published a post on the CFPB’s efforts against payday lenders.

In May 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FDIC were criticized by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in May 2014 Report for using the DOJ’s “Operation Choke Point” to force banks out of providing services to payday lenders and other “lawful and legitimate merchants”. The Committee’s report noted, among other things, that the DOJ was inappropriately demanding, without legal authority, that “bankers act as the moral arbiters and policemen of the commercial world”.

Now the CFPB has announced that it is considering rules that would end “payday debt traps”.  At least the CFPB is following standard regulatory processes in doing so rather than trying to regulate payday lenders by punishing their bankers.  The CFPB’s announcement, published March 26, 2015 (available here), outlines its proposals in preparation for convening a Small Business Review Panel to gather feedback from small lenders, which the CFPB refers to as “the next step in the rulemaking process”.

The CFPB’s proposal considers payday loans, deposit advance products, vehicle title loans, and certain other loans, and includes separate proposals for loans with maturities of 45 days or less, and for longer-term loans.  Broadly speaking, the CFPB is considering two different approaches – prevention and protection – that lenders could choose from.

You can read the rest of John’s post here.