September 9, 2015 — In late July, following a sometimes bitter debate, the House Financial Services Committee cleared the way for legislation repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2103 bulletin governing automotive lending. The move is a victory for The National Automobile Dealers Assn. which has lobbied vigorously the last two years to build bi-partisan support in Congress for the bill.

Meanwhile, the bill likely will make it to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives sometime in the next few weeks where it likely will undergo a tough fight. Once it passes the House — and chances are it will — then, it’s on to the Senate where passage won’t be easy.

The bill, H.R. 1737, has approximately 126 co-sponsors as of early August — 56 Democrats and 70 Republicans. NADA wants to rescind what it says is flawed guidance from the CFPB in which it is forcing auto lenders into moving away from the practice of dealer reserve and instead force their dealers to charge flat fees for arranging financing for car buyers. NADA also wants the CFPB to be more accountable in the future.

It will be a long fight but NADA officials have told TBR they believe they need to keep the pressure on and hope to have a vote in both houses before the 2016 election.

The fact NADA has gotten the bill to this point is a small miracle — but getting the president to sign it if passes Congress might be the toughest fight.