Hensarling Lies, Says CFPB Makes It Harder to Buy Cars But CFPB Protects Car Buyers
RHETORIC: Hensarling Says CFPB and Dodd-Frank make it more difficult for everyday consumers to get auto loans.
- In a speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives in support of the Financial CHOICE Act, Jeb Hensarling read a letter from an American who claimed to have experienced trouble getting a car loan because of the CFPB. Hensarling quoted this person as having said, “Please ensure that financing car and truck dealerships are not stymied by Dodd-Frank’s CFPB.” [House Session, 115th Congress (June 8, 2017)]
REALITY: The CFPB protects consumers from abusive auto lending including members of the military.
At least twice where the CFPB protected members of the military from predatory auto lending and at least four occasions the CFPB has held auto lenders responsible for racism in auto lending. The CFPB has also held auto lenders accountable for deceptive advertising, harassing consumers to collect debts, and providing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies, all at a detriment to consumers.
- The CFPB has protected members of the military from predatory auto lending at least twice, leading to $7,750,000 in combined penalties for the offenses that affected at least 51,000 individual service members. [Carter Dougherty, “2 auto lenders must repay fees to military members,” Bloomberg News, 06/30/13 and Mark Iandolo, “Consumer board settles with auto lender for $1.25 million after allegations of violating consent order”, Legal NewsLine, 05/03/17]
- The CFPB has held auto lenders accountable for deceptive advertising, harassing consumers to collect debts, and providing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies, all at a detriment to consumers. [Russ Wiles, “Federal watchdog sues 5 Arizona auto lenders”, The Arizona Republic, 09/21/16 and Russ Wiles, “Valley car chain fined $8 mil over credit practices”, The Arizona Republic, 11/21/14 and Nicholas Ballasy, “CFPB Levies $2.75M Fine Against Auto Lender”, Credit Union Times, 08/20/14]
- On at least four occasions the CFPB has held auto lenders responsible for racism in auto lending. In all of these instances, white customers received favorable rates over similarly situated minorities. Specifically, the CFPB has levied fines for discrimination against African-American, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic minorities. [J. Weston Phippen, “How Toyota May Have Started Overcharging Minority Customers”, The Atlantic, 02/03/16 and Teresa Dixon Murray, “Fifth Third discriminated on auto loans, CFPB says,” The Plain Dealer, 09/28/15 and Jim Puzzanghera, “Honda to pay $24 million to borrowers to settle discrimination probes,” The Los Angeles Times, 07/14/15 and Teresa Dixon Murray, “Fifth Third discriminated on auto loans, CFPB says,” The Plain Dealer, 09/28/15 and David Sherfinski, “Consumer board’s ‘guidance’ against discrimination angers car dealers, lawmakers”, Washington Times, 12/23/13]