Thursday, April 27, 2017

Rep. Luetkemeyer Reintroduces CLEARR Act

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) on April 26 re-introduced the CLEARR Act (H.R. 2133), which would provide relief from certain rules and regulations for community banks and credit unions.

In reintroducing the bill Rep. Luetkemeyer stated: "The pendulum has swung too far, and it’s time to return to a common-sense, responsible approach to financial regulation that protects consumers from harm without jeopardizing access to the financial products they need to grow their businesses, invest in their communities, and provide for their families."

The bill would limit the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by raising the asset size threshold for CFPB supervision from $10 billion to $50 billion. The bill also removes the term “abusive” from the CFPB’s “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts or practices authority.

Additionally, it would provide relief in the mortgage lending area by exempting community financial institutions from certain escrow requirements and providing a Qualified Mortgage safe harbor for loans held in portfolio.

Furthermore, H.R. 2133 would repeal the Dodd-Frank Act provision amending the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require collection of small business and minority-owned business loan data.

The bill would curtail "Operation Choke Point" by prohibiting federal banking agencies from requiring depository institutions to terminate a
specific account or group of accounts unless the agency has a material reason not based solely on reputational risk.

Rep. Luetkemeyer introduced similar legislation in the 113th and 114th Congresses.

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