CUNA attended Thursday’s meeting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Credit Union Advisory Council Thursday. The CUAC consists of credit union stakeholders that advise the bureau on credit union perspectives.

The agenda featured discussions between CFPB staff and council members on topics including the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), credit reporting, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans and financial literacy.

The members of the CUAC, all of which are CUNA-member credit unions, provided feedback, including calling for the CFPB to considering increasing HMDA reporting thresholds and reducing the data set after its substantial expansion in the 2015 HMDA Rule.

In its discussion of credit reporting, the members expressed concern with “credit repair” businesses which often file frivolous disputes of legitimate debts in the hopes of straining a credit union’s resources available to respond.

The agenda also featured a combined session of the CUAC, Consumer Advisory Board and the Community Bank Advisory Council, in which the groups discussed financial literacy and the importance of savings.

The CUAC members provided examples of the work their credit unions are doing in their communities to support financial education and bolster their members’ financial health. 

In addition, on the topic of PACE financing, the councils called on the Bureau to work to quickly implement appropriate and effective consumer protections on this product, as required by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155).