Large auto finance companies that are not financial institutions will face federal rules for the first time if the CFPB succeeds in a proposal to regulate aspects of their business.

In a proposal released Thursday, the federal financial watchdog said it would define large auto finance companies as those that make, acquire or refinance 10,000 auto loans or leases per year. CFPB said 38 auto finance companies in the U.S. would meet that definition and the companies provide roughly 90% of the nonbank auto financing in the U.S. In 2013, the companies financed the auto loans or leases of roughly 8.6 million consumers, the agency said.

“Many people depend on auto financing to pay for the car they need to get to work,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a public statement about the proposal. “Nonbank auto finance companies extend hundreds of billions of dollars in credit to American consumers, yet they have never been supervised at the federal level. We took action after we uncovered auto-lending discrimination at banks we supervise. Today's proposal would extend our oversight, allowing us to root out discrimination and ensure consumers are being treated fairly across this market.”

The agency said it would pay particular attention to the claims the financing companies make to consumers about their loans or leases and whether the companies accurately report consumer data to the national credit bureaus and consumer data firms. CFPB will also examine whether the companies treat consumers fairly when collecting auto loan debt.

The proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

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CFPB Proposes Authority Over Nonbank Auto Lenders

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