CFPB rejects NADAês 2nd Freedom of Information request
For the second time in four months, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) has rejected a Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) request from NADA to release internal memos that had been
leaked to the media. American Banker had publicized highlights from the documents, which NADA said undermine many of the CFPBês long-running claims that it is not attempting to regulate auto dealers in circumvention of the Dodd-Frank Act, its enabling law.
One internal memo that NADA requested, written by assistant director of CFPBês Office of Fair Lending Patrice Ficklin, admitted that the CFPBês disparate impact method of gauging racial disparity in auto lending could overestimate the incidence of racial
discrimination, American Banker reported. But, Ficklin said, the alternative presents an equal and perhaps greater risk of underestimating discrimination.
The CFPB told NADA that the dealer association did not identify one of the requested documents in sufficient detail for it to be easily found under the requirements of FOIA. Requests for other documents were denied under different FOIA exemptions.
NADA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Paul Metrey said NADA has no present intention to appeal the CFPBês denial of our FOIA request in light of a similar document demand that has
been sent to the CFPB by the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. That request was originally reported in the October 16, 2015 WANADA Bulletin.
CFPB actions in the auto finance market are costing consumers money, and may very well be hurting the very people the agency is trying to help, said NADA President Peter Welch.
Consumers deserve a transparent process that will allow their concerns to be heard and
considered before their rights are taken away by an overzealous Washington regulator.
The House Financial Services Committee has given bipartisan approval to HR 1737, a bill
designed to provide accountability and transparency to the CFPBês actions.
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