CUNA outlined its support for two regulatory relief bills prior to a House Financial Services subcommittee on financial services and consumer credit hearing Tuesday. One bill would exempt community financial institutions from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules, while the other would delay data collecting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

The Community Financial Institution Exemption Act (H.R. 1264) would exempt financial institutions with under $50 billion in assets from rules and regulations issued by the CFPB unless the bureau is able to demonstrate that these institutions are engaged in a pattern of abuse.

Section 1022 of the Dodd-Frank Act specifically authorizes the CFPB to provide exemptions for a class of entities.

“This includes the ability for the CFPB to exempt credit unions from certain statutes or rules,” wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “However, the CFPB has not adequately used its exemption authority even though credit unions and small banks did not perpetrate the abuses that caused the financial crisis and have no pattern of committing financial abuse or leading consumers into cycles of debt.”

The Home Mortgage Reporting Relief Act (H.R. 4648) would delay expanded HMDA data reporting requirements until Jan. 1, 2019, in turn postponing the first mandatory reporting date under the new regulatory scheme until March 2020.

“A delay of these new HMDA reporting requirements would provide credit unions with the additional time necessary to bring their policies and procedures in compliance with the new rule,” Nussle wrote.