Houston Independent Automobile Dealers Association April Issue: Collections | Page 16

The CARLAWYER©
By Thomas B. Hudson and Nicole Frush Munro
The first spring flowers are poking their way through the snow – can baseball season be long in
coming? Until someone says, “play ball!”, we’ll again peruse developments in the auto sales,
finance and lease world. This month, we feature federal developments from the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department and a state action from Washington.
We thought might interest folks during the winter doldrums. We also recap some of the auto
sale and financing lawsuits we follow each month. Remember – we aren’t reporting every
recent legal development, only those we think might be particularly important or interesting to
industry.
Why do we include items from other states? We want to show you new legal developments and
trends. Also, another state’s laws might be a lot like your state’s laws. If attorneys general or
plaintiffs’ lawyers are pursuing particular types of claims in other states, those claims might soon
appear in your state.
Note that this column does not offer legal advice. Always check with your own lawyer to learn
how what we report might apply to you, or if you have questions.
This Month’s CARLAWYER© Compliance Tip
With the Federal Trade Commission’s continuing assault on dealer advertising, why not appoint
an advertising officer to oversee your ad efforts (including your web site). Provide that person
with an advertising compliance budget and have them trained to understand federal and state
advertising rules, then have them review every new ad you run, and document the review. If the
feds come calling, your compliance efforts will likely be well received.
Federal Developments
Are You Furnishing Information to Credit Bureaus? On February 3, the CFPB issued a
compliance bulletin reminding furnishers of their obligation under Regulation V (Fair Credit
Reporting Act) to establish and implement reasonable written policies and procedures regarding
the accuracy and integrity of information furnished to consumer reporting agencies. In the
bulletin, the CFPB notes its focus on the accuracy of information in consumer reports about
banking history, past NSF activity, unpaid or outstanding bounced checks, overdrafts,
involuntary account closures, and fraud. The CFPB also notes that its supervisory experience
suggests that some financial institutions are not compliant with their obligations with regard to
furnishing information to specialty CRAs. The bulletin emphasizes that a furnisher's obligation to
have policies and procedures that satisfy Regulation V's requirement extends to information
furnished to all types of CRAs, including the furnishing of deposit account information to
specialty CRAs. The bulletin states that the CFPB will continue to monitor furnishers'
compliance with the Regulation V requirement to establish and implement reasonable written
policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of all furnished information.
Another CFPB Fair Lending Enforcement Action. On February 2, the CFPB and the
Department of Justice resolved discrimination claims against major auto finance creditor Toyota
Motor Credit Corporation. The agencies' coordinated settlements with TMCC closely resembled
settlements reached previously with American Honda Finance Company and Fifth Third Bank.