The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interpretive rule Wednesday that explains the basis for its authority to examine supervised financial institutions for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA).
This CFPB position reverses the agency’s previous position in 2018 that it did not have examination authority regarding the MLA. Based on this announcement, the CFPB will resume MLA-related examination activities for the financial institutions under its authority, such as credit unions with over $10 billion in assets.
Congress enacted the MLA to protect military borrowers from predatory lenders and other creditors who seek to take advantage of military families by: