WASHINGTON – Instead of attacking the practice of auto dealers' 0% financing with the Fed as it did unsuccessfully almost two years ago, CUNA plans to try a different approach in the coming weeks. CUNA's Assistant General Counsel Jeffrey Bloch will pen a letter to the Fed with a singular focus of asking the Fed to look at Reg Z – Truth in Lending – to see if the regulation can be improved to require auto dealers to provide full disclosures to consumers on 0% financing deals. "We don't want the Fed to end dealers' 0% financing deals, we just want full disclosure," said Bloch. The 0% financing offers are having a negative effect on credit unions' auto loan portfolios, but Bloch said competition is not the issue. "Consumers don't know what they're getting into with these deals," he added. One of the arguments CUNA intends to present to the Fed is that if a consumer chooses to accept a dealer's 0% financing offer over a rebate offer, then the rebate should be included as a prepaid finance charge. A district court in northern Illinois recently found for this in a recent case, and Bloch said he intends to bring this to the Fed's attention as the basis for his position. [email protected]

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