Only Your Immediate Action Can Stop Further Federal Regulation Of Dealer Financing!
The Senate Financial Reform Bill is under consideration in Congress. As it is written, automobile dealers will fall under the authority of the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP). The BCFP would have the power to regulate dealers financing activities, including setting limits on dealer markup.
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
Our only hope of preventing this is the passage of the Brownback Amendment which would exempt dealers from oversight by the BCFP. We need everyone possible to call & email Senator Webb and Senator Warner to ask them to support the Brownback Amendment.
BACKGROUND
The Senate is likely to vote on financial reform legislation (bill unnumbered) sometime after April 12. This bill would create a new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP), which would have new authority to regulate auto lending, including potentially ending dealer-assisted financing. Last fall, dealer efforts were essential to passage of a provision in the House financial regulation bill that would exempt auto dealers (except for "buy here, pay here financing") from a similar agency.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. Please call Senator Mark Warner and Senator Jim Webb ASAP and ask them to support the Brownback auto dealer amendment to the financial reform bill . The phone numbers for their offices are listed below.
2. Use the Contact Form on the websites of both Senators to ask them to support the Brownback auto dealer amendment to the financial reform bill (links below). You can do this today!
3. Ask your employees, friends, vendors, neighbors (everyone) to do the same!
Please do not delay!
DETAILS & ARGUMENTS
DO NOT make the argument that it will reduce your profits. Please do NOT even mention it. This would be counterproductive and could harm our efforts.
When talking to Senators about the Brownback amendment, please alert them to the following points:
1. Auto dealers did not cause the credit meltdown, and auto loans did not contribute to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Financial reform legislation should focus on what led to the economic crash in 2008, and not be used as a means to increase regulation on dealers.
2. The banks and finance companies that underwrite and service auto loans would be covered by BCFP, making further regulation of auto dealers costly and unnecessary
3. Effective federal and state laws governing dealer-assisted financing already exist. Suggesting that without BCFP dealers would be left unregulated is false. Dealers are subject to extensive federal regulation (e.g., the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Truth In Lending Act, etc.) and to the full range of state consumer protection statutes.
4. Laws and rules already make abusive practices unlawful (e.g., discriminatory lending), making creation of a new federal agency to again regulate dealers unnecessary.
For more information, please refer to NADA's recent Action Alert. We have provided a link to it below.
http://www.nadafrontpage.com/2174.xml
CONTACT INFO
Senator Jim Webb
(202)-224-4024
http://webb.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Under "Subject" select "Banking Issues"
Senator Mark Warner
Phone: 202-224-2023
http://warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=contact
Under "Topic" select "Banking and Financial Issues"