The FTC has declined requests to extend the comment period for its proposed rule that would impose a number of new substantive and disclosure requirements on motor vehicle dealers in connection with the car buying or leasing process. 

The FTC’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) was published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2022 with a 60-day comment period that ends on September 12, 2022.  In declining the extension requests, the FTC stated that the 60-day period, when added to the preceding 20 days following the FTC’s release of the NPRM on July 13, 2022, resulted in an 80-day period that “affords the public a meaningful opportunity to provide the Commission with comments regarding its rulemaking proposal.”

Earlier this month, we released an episode of our Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast titled “A Close Look at the Federal Trade Commission’s Proposed Rule for Motor Vehicle Dealers, with special guests Sanya Shahrasbi and Daniel Dwyer, Staff Attorneys, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Financial Practices.”  To listen to the podcast, click here.

In response to the FTC’s denial of a comment period extension, the National Association of Automobile Dealers released the following statement from its President and CEO:

The FTC’s refusal to grant a routine extension of a public comment period, particularly for a proposed rule of such sweeping magnitude that involved no advanced notice, further displays an unnecessary and misguided rush to judgement in this matter. This proposed rule would cause great harm to consumers by significantly extending transaction times, making the customer experience much more complex and inefficient, and increasing prices, and NADA again urges the FTC to go back to the drawing board before forcing a series of unstudied and untested mandates lacking evidence that will have such significant negative impacts on customers.

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