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

In a proposal released Thursday, the federal financial watchdogsaid it would define large auto finance companies as those thatmake, acquire or refinance 10,000 auto loans or leases per year.CFPB said 38 auto finance companies in the U.S. would meet thatdefinition and the companies provide roughly 90% of the nonbankauto financing in the U.S. In 2013, the companies financed the autoloans or leases of roughly 8.6 million consumers, the agencysaid.

“Many people depend on auto financing to pay for the car theyneed to get to work,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in apublic statement about the proposal. “Nonbank auto financecompanies extend hundreds of billions of dollars in credit toAmerican consumers, yet they have never been supervised at thefederal level. We took action after we uncovered auto-lendingdiscrimination at banks we supervise. Today's proposal would extendour oversight, allowing us to root out discrimination and ensureconsumers are being treated fairly across this market.”

The agency said it would pay particular attention to the claimsthe financing companies make to consumers about their loans orleases and whether the companies accurately report consumer data tothe national credit bureaus and consumer data firms. CFPB will alsoexamine whether the companies treat consumers fairly whencollecting auto loan debt.

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