Wait, Is Section 1071 On The Verge Of Being Cancelled?

After the CFPB spent 13 years trying to figure out how to implement a wide-reaching poorly-worded law, the ensuing 888-page handbook full of rules for small business lenders to follow so the government can measure disparities in commercial loan underwriting processes, may have all been for naught. Congress wants the rules gone.

The rules in question were mandated by Section 1071 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) at a time when the bill’s drafters assumed that all business financing products were loans and all loans came from banks. The consequence has been endless rounds of debates, RFIs, hearings, committees, consultations, explainer guides, and lawsuits. Most recently there was a court-ordered injunction put in place to delay implementation of these rules.

Today, however, the House followed the Senate in voting to strike down the relevant rules. Though it was close in both chambers of Congress, Democrats did join Republicans in reaching this outcome. Nevertheless, reports say that Biden is expected to veto their resolution.

Notably, the passed legislation disapproves the rules submitted by the CFPB, not the underlying section of the law that mandates they draft a set of rules. This is important because it’s not Section 1071 that they’ve voted to undo, but rather the final rules that the CFPB has issued as part of its obligation to Section 1071.

According to House republicans, “By overturning the final 1071 rule, Congress will force the CFPB to reengage small businesses and their lenders to create a rule that is better tailored to their concerns and less likely to reduce the availability of credit.”

This effectively means that Section 1071 itself is safe (unless a court rules it or the CFPB unconstitutional). If the President does not veto it the legislation would force the CFPB to go back to the drawing board on rules it took 13 years to come up with in the first place.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.