The Texas federal district court hearing the lawsuit filed by two trade groups challenging the CFPB’s final payday/auto title/high-rate installment loan rule (Payday Rule) entered an order on December 6 that once again continues the stay of the lawsuit and the August 19, 2019 compliance date for both the Payday Rule’s ability-to-repay (ATR) provisions and its payment provisions. The order directs the parties to file another joint status report by April 24, 2020 “informing the court about proceedings related to the Rule and this litigation as the parties deem appropriate.”

The order follows the filing of the most recent status report on December 6 by the CFPB and trade groups. Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates had urged the CFPB to implement the Payday Rule’s payment provisions by requesting that the stay of the compliance date for those provisions be lifted. Nevertheless, the CFPB, together with the trade groups, stated in the report that “the parties are not requesting that the Court lift the stay of the litigation or lift the stay of the compliance date at this time.” (Although the Bureau’s final rule delaying the compliance date for the ATR provisions left unchanged the August 19 compliance date for the Payday Rule’s payment provisions, the stay of the compliance date entered by the court on November 6, 2018 stayed the compliance date for both the ATR and the payment provisions.)