The request for President-elect Joe Biden’s administration would impact rules issued by the CFPB and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, such as the recent Fair Access rule. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
1/15/2021 14:30
As a follow up to a call for sweeping measures under President-elect Joe Biden’s administration impacting oversight of the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry and its ability to work with consumers, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., issued a letter to Biden asking for a memorandum to temporarily suspend “midnight” regulations promulgated by the Trump administration.
“There is precedent from previous, incoming Democratic and Republican administrations alike to issue a presidential memorandum to temporarily suspend any midnight regulations to allow time for review,” Waters, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, writes. “I urge you to issue a similar presidential memorandum on January 20th requesting the heads of the rulemaking agencies to not send proposed or final rules to the Office of the Federal Register; withdraw any rules that have not yet been published in the Federal Register; and postpone the effective dates of rules at least 60 days that have already been published in the Federal Register but which have not yet taken effect. The agencies to which you send such a memorandum must include the independent agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.”
In a letter to Biden in December, Waters sought to reverse actions of the Trump administration, including the CFPB’s debt collection rule and appointment of Director Kathy Kraninger, ACA International previously reported.
“ACA International expects changes with any administration and continues to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle to continue to educate them about the work of the ARM industry in helping businesses throughout the country and preserving consumers’ ability to access credit. However, these requests aim to reverse course on work the CFPB did during both Republican and Democrat administrations and would ultimately harm consumers,” said ACA International’s Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey.
In December, Waters also requested changes to the CFPB’s enforcement actions, suspension of debts owed to the federal government until the pandemic ends, and stronger consumer safeguards for credit reporting and student lending.