CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle spoke with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger Tuesday on credit union issues relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The conversation follows up CUNA’s letter to the CFPB last week on finalizing its Remittance Rule and CUNA’s letter to the White House that included CFPB-related suggestions to help credit unions increase member service.

“I thank CFPB Director Kraninger for her time today during what is an obviously stressful time for our country’s financial system,” Nussle said. “I reiterated America’s credit unions’ steadfast commitment to seeing our members through this crisis and outlined several suggestions from CUNA and Leagues that would help ease the burdens on credit unions while allowing them additional flexibility to meet member needs that might arise as the pandemic continues.”

CUNA’s letter to the administration suggests the CFPB:

• Avoid finalizing or implementing any new rules that would add to burden or strain compliance resources;
• Reduce onsite routine examinations so that credit union employees are not required to be in the office for unnecessary lengths of time and can dedicate their work time to focusing on serving members;
• Consider pushing back or providing extensions for any 2020 filing deadlines, including Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting, credit card account agreement reporting and others;
• Adopt a policy of “good faith efforts toward substantial compliance” during the compliance examination process once routine examinations resume after the pandemic;
• Allow consumers to temporarily waive disclosure timing-requirements under the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule;
• Provide temporary flexibility for disclosures and application processing timeline requirements related to loss mitigation efforts, especially for COVID-19 related loan modifications, forbearance agreements, and repayment plans.