Citing the pandemic, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing to delay by 60 days the effective dates of debt collection rules that were issued by the Trump Administration last year. The agency is seeking public comment on the proposal, but the proposal first must be published in the Federal Register.
The Internal Revenue Service’s portal to provide information to consumers about their federal coronavirus Economic Impact Payments is providing inaccurate information to many financial institutions and their customers, creating confusion for everyone involved, trade groups said last week.
“The information provided by the portal is often inaccurate, causing confusion for recipients because it is not updated in a sufficiently timely manner, resulting in erroneous messages to recipients,” groups including the Credit Union National Association, the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America, wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.
President Biden on Tuesday signed legislation that will extend the deadline for businesses to apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans from March 31 to May 31.
The legislation, H.R. 1799, also allows the Small Business Administration to continue to process loans until June 30. This will allow loans that are in the pipeline on May 31 to be processed.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may reinstitute the agency’s rule that would require payday loan borrowers to demonstrate their ability to repay a loan before it is approved.
The Independent Community Bankers of America wants Congress to reexamine the credit union tax exemption and its relationship to credit union-community bank acquisitions. They believe that the acquisitions are putting small business lending experts at risk.
A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday introduced legislation that would make it easier for credit unions and banks to provide financial services to marijuana-related businesses.
Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Steve Daines (R-Mt.) and 27 cosponsors introduced the bill. The same bill was introduced last week in the House.
The Postal Service overhaul plan released by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy does not directly mention postal banking services, but it does offer a vision where the post office “will become a one-stop shop for a wide range of government services” and will offer “comprehensive small business services to bridge local retailers to local buyers” in a variety of ways.
Credit unions might be forced to decline members or their deposits if the NCUA does not take action to ease credit union net worth ratio problems caused by the pandemic, CUNA and the American Association of Credit Union Leagues warned late last week.
Senate Republicans blocked legislation Thursday that would have prevented the federal Economic Impact Payments from being garnished for the payments of debts owed.
Without such legislation, credit union and banking trade groups have said they may have to allow court-ordered garnishment of the payments.
Saying that federal law hampers lending by credit unions, two senators have introduced legislation that would increase the loan maturity cap of 15 years on credit union loans to 20 years.
Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) have pushed similar legislation in the past, but Cortez Masto said the pandemic has increased the need for credit unions to have more flexibility to offer loans to members.