U.S. DEALER WOES

While your local auto dealer is still reeling from wholesale closures and slow sales, dealers face a new hurdle in the form of federal legislation discussed this week that would enact oversight of their financing practices.

A consortium of consumer protection groups proposed the measure to the House Financial Services Committee, saying that what they see as predatory lending in the lightly regulated world of dealer financing. The group, which includes Consumer Federation of America, NAACP and Center for Responsible Lending, would like to see the Consumer Financial Products Agency, recently proposed by President Obama, given oversight over this market. Oh, boy! Well, I guess it won't affect me because I will never have another car on credit, but it sure will hit a lot of people. Remember, these people won't be happy until we are back in the horse and buggy.

In the middle is U.S. Representative Barney Frank, House Financial Services Committee chairman. With lobbying from the National Automobile Dealers Association, Frank had already penned language for the CFPA that specifically exempts dealership lending from the same sort of legislation that governs banks and other financing institutions.