Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, September 7, 2017 -

The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee met today to examine several pieces of legislation aimed at improving the regulatory environment in order to boost economic growth.

“The legislation discussed in the Subcommittee today will better allow financial companies to serve their customers,” said Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO). “From banks and credit unions to attorneys, we’ve seen an impeded ability for businesses across the nation to offer financial services and guidance. In order to preserve consumer choice and financial independence, Congress must tackle regulatory reform and simplify rules. The policies outlined in today’s legislation start to break down those barriers.”

Legislation Considered:

• H.R. 1849 (Trott), the Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act of 2017 – Introduced by Rep. Trott, the Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act of 2017 amends the fair Debt Collection Practices Act to exclude law firms and licensed attorneys who are engaged in the practice of law from the definition of a debt collector.  This bill also amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to prevent the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection from exercising supervisory or enforcement authority with respect to attorneys when engaged in the practice of law and not offering or providing consumer financial products or services.

• H.R. 2359 (Loudermilk), the FCRA Liability Harmonization Act – Introduced by Rep. Loudermilk, the Fair Credit Reporting Act Liability Harmonization Act amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to establish certain limits – the lesser of $500,000 or one percent of the net worth of the defendant – on potential liability for statutory damages. This bill also eliminates punitive damages that can be awarded under the FCRA.

• H.R. 3312 (Luetkemeyer), the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2017 – Introduced by Rep. Luetkemeyer, the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2017 replaces the arbitrary $50 billion asset threshold used in Title I of Dodd-Frank to designate firms as “systemically important financial institutions” and subjecting them to enhanced regulatory standards with an indicator-based measurement approach based on a particular institution’s size, interconnectedness, cross-jurisdictional activity, substitutability, and complexity.

• H.R. XXXX (Royce), the Facilitating Access to Credit Act – To be introduced by Rep. Royce, the Facilitating Access to Credit Act amends the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) to create a process under which an Authorized Credit Services Provider (ACSP) can be exempted from the application of certain requirements under CROA only to the extent it offers, sells, provides, or performs services related to credit and identity protection, and credit education.

• H.R. XXXX (Tenney), the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017 – To be introduced by Rep. Tenney, the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017 amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to exempt from certain escrow or impound requirements a loan secured by a first lien on a consumer's principal dwelling if the loan is held by a creditor with assets of $50 billion or less. The CFPB must also provide either exemptions to, or adjustments from, the mortgage loan servicing and escrow account administration requirements of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 for servicers of 30,000 or fewer mortgage loans.

• H.R. XXXX (Hill), the TRID Improvement Act of 2017 – To be introduced by Rep. Hill, the TRID Improvement Act of 2017 amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to expand the period in which a creditor is allowed to cure a good-faith violation on a loan estimate or closing disclosure from 60 to 210 days after consummation. This bill also amends the RESPA to allow for the calculation of a simultaneous issue discount when disclosing title insurance premiums.