Dealers Exempted from More Oversight as Finance-Reform Deal is Reached

WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators agreed to a historic financial-regulation bill that exempts auto dealers from oversight by a new consumer-finance agency, giving dealers virtually everything they lobbied for. The conference agreement represents a hard-fought victory for NADA over a powerful coalition that included President Barack Obama, the Pentagon, senior Democratic lawmakers, military families, consumer advocates and civil-rights activists. “The goal all along was to keep a new, untested government agency from creating burdensome and unnecessary rules that would make it harder and more expensive for car buyers to access auto credit,” NADA spokesman Bailey Wood said (Thursday). Last night, the only remaining difference between the House and Senate proposals was whether the new consumer agency would have authority to write some rules affecting dealers. The final conference agreement did not provide this limited authority, Wood said. The agreement is to be submitted to the full House and Senate for votes next week, and then to Obama, who has indicated he plans to sign it. Read more from Automotive News.

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