A final rule delaying the Aug. 19 compliance date, to Nov. 19, 2020, for mandatory underwriting provisions of the payday, vehicle title and “certain high-cost installment loans” – the 2017 payday lending rule – was issued late Thursday by the CFPB. The 15-month delay also makes certain corrections, the bureau said, to address “several clerical and non-substantive errors it has identified in other aspects of the Rule.” The delay takes effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register(in early August).
The bureau said the delay will permit an orderly conclusion to its separate rulemaking process to reconsider the mandatory underwriting provisions. The agency said that, after reviewing comments it received when it proposed the delay, the bureau concluded at least two things:
- CFPB has strong reasons to revisit the mandatory underwriting provisions
- If the mandatory underwriting provisions went into effect while CFPB was in the process of reconsidering these provisions, “consequences would likely follow—some of which may be irreversible even if the Mandatory Underwriting Provisions were later rescinded—that the Bureau believes may prove unwarranted and may undermine effective reconsideration of the 2017 Final Rule.
The agency said that, In light of those considerations, it concluded that “it is appropriate to delay compliance with the Mandatory Underwriting Provisions for 15 months to allow time for the Reconsideration NPRM rulemaking process to be completed.”