News outlets have covered the prospect of legislation to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and undo reforms of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. See, for example, here, here, and here. The new Congress, however, is also considering a variety of other bills that would impact consumer protection. The National Consumer Law Center has compiled this list of "Lower Profile Anti-Consumer Legislation Expected in the 2015-2016 Congress."
Among the items on the list are —
• Bills to exempt credit bureaus from the consumer protections of the Credit Repair Organizations Act. These bills would also preempt state law prohibitions against unfair and deceptive practices from applying to the promotion of credit monitoring products that are of dubious value and have been the subject of highly deceptive marketing.
• Bills to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to exempt attorneys from the definition of debt collectors.
• Bills sought by payday lenders and other high-cost lenders to weaken state consumer protection laws, undercut the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and permit usurious predatory lending.
• Bills concerning rent-to-own transactions that would preempt consumer protection laws in Minnesota, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Vermont and other states.
