Although 2006 is a year when six states have no regular session and several states have a short legislative session, this has not precluded the introduction of several thousand measures relating to vehicle finance, mortgage lending, credit cards and installment loans.

For example, in Arizona there is a measure to open the market to installment lending; in New Mexico, a Senate Resolution has passed establishing a mortgage broker licensing study committee; Ohio is considering bringing the mortgage lending industry under the umbrella of the deceptive trade practices statute; and numerous security breach/identity theft/and credit freeze measures have appeared in various states.

Other measures introduced relate to such topics as outsourcing, interchange, taxation, arbitration, and advertising restrictions. The vehicle finance, card, personal lending, and mortgage lending subcommittees of the AFSA State Government Affairs committee meet monthly by teleconference (sometimes more often) to review these bills and to anticipate new state legislative and regulatory trends. AFSA member companies interested in participating in these subcommittees may contact Laura Gallagher, director of state legislative research, at lgallagher@afsamail.org.