H.R. 976 — 1071 Repeal to Protect Small Business Lending Act

This section states congressional findings that the data collection and reporting requirements of section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (as added by section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act), which apply to financial institutions regarding small business loans, (1) have increased compliance costs potentially reducing small business credit access, (2) disproportionately burden smaller institutions such as community banks and credit unions critical to small business lending, and (3) can be addressed by repeal to reduce regulatory barriers.

This section repeals Section 704B of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c-2), which requires financial institutions to compile, maintain, and report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) data on small business credit applications—including demographic information on principal owners—to identify potential discrimination and unmet credit needs of women- and minority-owned businesses. (Thus, this eliminates the small business lending data collection mandate enacted by Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.) It also makes conforming amendments to the tables of contents and cross-references in the Dodd-Frank Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act.