Public Hearing on Proposed Amendments to 209 CMR 32.00: Disclosure of Consumer Credit Costs and Terms and 209 CMR 40.00: Unfair and Deceptive Practices in Consumer Transactions

Pursuant to the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws chapter 140D, sections 3 and 29; Massachusetts General Laws chapter 167, section 2A and Massachusetts General Laws chapter 183C, section 19; and in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws chapter 30A, section 2, a public hearing will be held on Thursday, November 6, 2014 at 10:00 A.M., 1000 Washington Street, Hearing Room 1-E, Boston, Massachusetts, at which the Division of Banks will receive oral comments relative to the adoption of proposed amendments to 209 CMR 32.00: Disclosure of Consumer Credit Costs and Terms  and 209 CMR 40.00: Unfair and Deceptive Practices in Consumer Transactions .

The proposed amendments to 209 CMR 32.00  will streamline the regulation for easier compliance by providing that compliance with cited provisions of the regulations of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) constitutes compliance with the cited provisions of 209 CMR 32.00. The purpose of the amendments is to amend the Truth-in-Lending regulation in a way to incorporate future federal changes while preserving the Massachusetts differences deemed more advantageous to consumers. In addition, the title of the regulation will be amended to “Truth in Lending” to correspond with the title of the federal regulation.

The proposed amendments to 209 CMR 40.00  will streamline the regulation for easier compliance by providing that compliance with cited provisions of the regulations of the CFPB constitutes compliance with the cited provisions of 209 CMR 40.00. The purpose of the amendments is to amend this regulation in a way to incorporate future federal changes while preserving certain Massachusetts differences deemed more advantageous to consumers. The amendments are also being proposed to ensure consistency with the proposed updates in 209 CMR 32.00 et seq.

Additional changes may be made based on comments received at the public hearing or during the comment period.

Written comments may be submitted to the Massachusetts Division of Banks, 1000 Washington St., 10^th Floor, Boston, MA  02118-6400 or at dob.comments@state.ma.us until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 14, 2014.  A copy of the proposed amendments is available at, and copies may be obtained from, the Massachusetts Division of Banks or at www.mass.gov/dob.