The Senate yesterday passed a resolution to repeal a rule governing partnerships between banks and third-party lenders that allow consumers to take loans with interest rates above their states’ maximum, The Hill reported. Senators voted 52-47 to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to revoke the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) “true lender” rule and forbid the agency from issuing similar regulations, with 49 Democrats and GOP Sens. Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) Susan Collins (Maine) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) voting in favor of repeal. All 47 other Republican senators voted against repeal. The resolution now heads to the Democratic-controlled House, which is expected to pass the measure for President Biden’s signature. The White House said Tuesday that it supports the passage of the repeal resolution, arguing that the OCC’s rule “undermines state consumer protection laws and would allow the proliferation of predatory lending.” The OCC in October issued a rule intended to specify who is the true lender of a loan issued to a customer through a partnership between a nationally chartered bank and a third party, typically a non-bank lender.
