Houston Independent Automobile Dealers Association December Issue: Tax Selling Season is Soon Upon Us | Page 11

The report concluded that the arbitration rule did not satisfy the statutory prerequisites for banning the
use of arbitration agreements under the Dodd-Frank Act.
Perhaps partly in response to the Treasury Department’s criticism, on October 25, the U.S. Senate
passed a joint resolution to invalidate the CFPB's rule. The late evening vote was 51-50, with the vice
president breaking the tie. Despite an eleventh hour personal plea from Director Cordray to let the rule
go into effect, the President signed the resolution on November 1, invalidating the rule and eliminating
the CFPB’s ability to promulgate another arbitration rule without a new congressional mandate.
FTC Studying Data Security. The FTC recently announced a public workshop on December 12, 2017, in
Washington, D.C., to discuss better ways to identify and measure consumer injuries that result from the
misuse of consumers’ personal information. The FTC is seeking comment on issues including:
•
What are the qualitatively different types of consumer injuries from privacy and data security
incidents?
•
What frameworks might we use to assess these different injuries, and how do we quantify
injuries?
•
How do businesses evaluate the benefits, costs, and risks of collecting and using consumer
information in light of potential injuries? and
•
How do consumers evaluate the benefits, costs, and risks of sharing information in light of
potential injuries?
Justice Reports to Congress. On September 28, the Justice Department released its annual report to
Congress listing its 2016 enforcement activities involving the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair
Housing Act, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. By the end of 2016, the DOJ had 33 open fair
lending investigations related to discrimination in mortgage lending, the sale of manufactured homes,
and auto financing. The report details the DOJ's Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative, a pilot
program through which the DOJ funds Assistant U.S. Attorney and Division trial attorney positions and
designates military judge advocates to serve as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys to support the DOJ in its
SCRA enforcement efforts. The pilot program will be funded through the end of FY 2018. In addition,
the report discusses settlements with several lenders for alleged violations of the SCRA, including
alleged unlawful foreclosures and auto repossessions. Dealers with significant business with
servicemembers should take note of this beefed-up enforcement capability.