Photo left: Greg Tschider testifying before House IBL Committee. The Credit Union/Financial Service Bill, SB 2136, relating to late fees received unanimous "Do Pass" and is now placed on House Calendar.

North Dakota Legislators hit the ground running after halftime recess. A bill relating to interest rates and late fees being pushed by Credit Unions and the financial service industry cleared another hurdle yesterday as the House Industry and Labor Committee reported back A “DO PASS” on SB 2136, on a vote of 15-0.

The bill states that “interest for any legal indebtedness must be at the rate of six percent per annum unless a different rate not to exceed the rate specified in section 47-14-09 is contracted for in writing. All Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, all contracts must bear the same rate of interest after maturity as they bear before maturity, and any contract attempting to make the rate of interest higher after maturity is void as to the increase of interest, except for a charge for late payment penalty charged in addition to interest which may not exceed fifteen dollars or fifteen percent of the late payment, whichever is less, unless otherwise agreed to in any commercial, agricultural, or real estate note or mortgage. A charge for a late payment penalty may be imposed only if the amount of the late charge or the method of calculation of the late charge has been agreed to by the parties in the loan documents that are signed by the borrower.

The bill will now be placed on the House floor calendar. It is possible it will be debated this week. If approved, the bill will be sent to the Governor for approval.

This Week in Washington, DC

The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. today to consider legislation under suspension of the rules.  Two of these bills have financial services implications:  H.R. 749, the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act and H.R. 1035, which would require a study of voluntary community-based flood insurance options and how such options could be incorporated into the national flood insurance program.  On Wednesday and the balance of the week, the House is expected to consider H.R. 890, the Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2013, and H.R. 803, the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act.

Besides confirmation hearings this week, the Senate is also expected to begin consideration of H.R. 933, the continuing appropriations bill passed by the House last week.

Committee Meetings

Credit Unions are following several committee hearings on both sides of the Capitol, including the following:

Today, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Mary Jo White, to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee Housing and Insurance Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Mortgage Insurance: Comparing Private Sector and Government-Subsidized Approaches."

On Thursday, the House Financial Services Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Who is Too Big to Fail? GAO's Assessment of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research."  The House Judiciary Committee Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Abusive Patent Litigation: The Impact on American Innovation & Jobs, and Potential Solutions."  The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will hold a hearing on small business access to capital and disaster recovery.  Finally, the Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing on solving the federal debt crisis.

Eliminate Privacy Notification Confusion Act

The House will consider H.R. 749, the Eliminate Privacy Notification Confusion Act. Credit Unions strongly support this bill, which would eliminate the requirement that credit unions send annual privacy notifications to their members, and require such notices only when the credit union’s privacy policy changes.  This is the same legislation that the House of Representatives passed in December.  In addition to the House action this week, we expect a Senate companion to be introduced in the near future, perhaps as early as this week.