In January, 2020 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger appointed a taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law to explore and make recommendations on ways to improve consumer protection in the marketplace.

After extensive deliberations, the taskforce yesterday unanimously issued a comprehensive report that sets forth a sweeping set of recommendations to protect consumers.

Key to the report are several recommendations that NADA and the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) jointly submitted to the taskforce last June. Most notably, the recommendations urge the CFPB and the Federal Reserve Board to establish that “good faith implementation of the [NADA/NAMAD/AIADA] Fair Credit Compliance Program or comparable program constitutes one method of preventing discrimination in pricing offered by retail sellers.”

This recommendation, coupled with the American Bar Association’s similar recommendation last August, represents the latest in a growing number of calls from diverse groups for government to recognize a dealer’s faithful adoption of the optional NADA/NAMAD/AIADA Fair Credit Compliance Program as a safe harbor against pricing discrimination claims.

The NADA fair credit compliance framework, available to all dealers on a voluntary basis, enhances the ability of participating dealers to comply with our nation’s fair credit laws while retaining the flexibility needed to meet the borrowing needs of the nation’s car buyers. NADA encourages every franchised dealer and dealership group to discuss with their attorney the adoption and implementation of this Program.