Small LENDER Act

New small-business loan reporting rules

This bill would require financial institutions to collect and report certain data about small-business loan applicants to the CFPB. It would define a "small business" as one with $1,000,000 or less in gross annual revenue. Institutions that made fewer than 2,500 small-business credit transactions in each of the two prior years, or that have under $10,000,000,000 in assets, would be exempt. The CFPB could not require compliance before June 1, 2031, and could not enforce the rule for two years after that date. Lenders would have to give applicants a plain-English written notice (using a CFPB model one-page form where practicable) saying the CFPB requires the data, the applicant does not have to provide it, and the answer will not affect credit decisions. The bill would also bar lenders from keeping data determined by visual observation or gathered other than from the applicant, and it would bar using the applicant response rate to judge compliance.