FTC Issues Summary of Its 2013 Financial Acts Enforcement and Related Research and Consumer Education

The Federal Trade Commission has issued its summaries of FTC enforcement and related activities during annual year 2013 regarding the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Consumer Leasing Act (CLA), and Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA); and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The Commission has submitted the summaries to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), at its request, so that it may include the FTC’s efforts in the CFPB’s annual report to Congress, which is required under the Dodd-Frank Act. The FTC and the CFPB generally have shared jurisdiction of these statutes, and coordinate their activities accordingly.

The summary on TILA, CLA and EFTA addresses FTC’s enforcement actions related to non-mortgage credit (such as automobile advertising), mortgage lending advertisements, and forensic audit scams; rulemaking, research, and policy development related to truth in lending; and consumer and business education regarding truth in lending requirements. The summary on ECOA concerns the agency’s initiatives on fair lending, including research and policy development, as well as its consumer and business education activities.

The Commission vote, taken before Commissioner Terrell McSweeny joined the agency, to issue the summary regarding ECOA was 4-0. The vote to issue the summary regarding the TILA, CLA and EFTA was 5-0. Copies of the letters also have been provided to the Federal Reserve Board. (FTC File No. P064808; the staff contacts are Carole L. Reynolds and Miya Rahamim, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3230 and 202-326-2351)

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