Tag: CFPB

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Compliance Dealership Training

Compliance Training in 2021

We are nearing the first full month with the new Administration and there has been lots of activity from the White House. Vaccine distribution is rolling out, COVID-19 cases are trending down across much of the country, and Congress has a stimulus package to address. All of these actions bode well for the powersports industry eager to ramp up sales.

There have been some notable actions around compliance. Former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Rohit Chopra has been nominated to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). During his tenure with the FTC, Chopra was active in pursuing abusive and discriminatory lending practices. Specifically, Chopra has signaled interest in establishing more protections against auto lending abuses, specifically for members of the military, Black and Hispanic consumers. If confirmed, Chopra would replace current CFPB head Kathy Kraninger.

As we can expect a renewed and revitalized federal compliance program, there is no better than now for a solid compliance training refresher for your sales and F&I staff.

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Business Growth

Looking Forward to Success in 2021

I’ve never been one to dwell on the past but this year demands some reflection as we prepare for success in the upcoming year. While we as a country have endured some tremendous challenges, there also have been many notable events that have given me hope for the future.

As I write this, the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are making their way across the country to our well-deserving front line healthcare workers. The presidential election is now behind us and we can move forward – hopefully with a stimulus package to ease the burden shouldered by individuals and small business owners. The Federal Reserve has indicated that interest rates will remain at or near zero at least into 2023. And while we have all been forced to pivot in our ways of doing business, business has continued for the most part. These positive data points tell me that there is much to look forward to as we approach 2021.

Many aspects of the powersports industry experienced a tremendous year in terms of sales, revenue, and overall success metrics. Although fourth quarter data will not be available until the end of January, early indications reflect another strong quarter. According to CDK Lightspeed DMS, new and used unit revenue growth in October clocked in at 33.2 percent. Service has also seen an uptick as riders pull those older bikes out of the garage for a trip down the road. According to Jeremy Jansen, Head of Motorsports at Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance, “North American powersports retail has seen unprecedented activity…resulting in the collective industry entering 2021 with a strong tailwind.”

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Compliance

We’ve Been Down This Path

Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been in the news a lot lately.

From Acting Director Mick Mulvany’s decommissioning of the Advisory Committee, to a federal district judge ruling its structure is unconstitutional, some might think that the CFPB’s days are numbered.

But history has a lesson to offer, compliments of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC was created on September 26, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act into law. The regulatory agency opened its doors in 1915, with a mission to protect consumers and promote competition. The FTC building was finished in 1938, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt stating, “May this permanent home of the Federal Trade Commission stand for all time as a symbol of the purpose of the government to insist on a greater application of the golden rule to conduct the corporation and business enterprises in their relationship to the body politic.”

Currently, the FTC houses three bureaus:

  1. the Bureau of Consumer Protection
  2. the Bureau of Competition
  3. the Bureau of Economics

Each bureau has a set of mandates to guide its work. In the early 1970s, the agency became more aggressive in its prosecutions and sanctions. The business community and Congress criticized the FTC’s activism, claiming it had become too powerful, was insensitive to the needs of the public and business, and operated with little oversight from Congress or the president. During President Ronald Reagan’s first term, control of the FTC was moved under the president. Its direction was modified to become more cooperative with business interests, while continuing its consumer protective functions.

A Matter of Checks and Balances

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