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COVER STORY
 The association on February 10 filed a lawsuit in a Maryland circuit court to prevent Montgomery County from enforcing an ordinance that would have the effect of allowing the county to regulate specific mortgage lending terms when it has no legal authority to do so.
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GOVERNMENT/REGULATORY AFFAIRS
AFSA members are among those participating in meetings of a Residential Mortgage Regulatory Task Force created by The Conference of State Banking Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) to reduce the complexity of the state-regulated mortgage lending industry and to improve the supervisory tools available to state mortgage regulators.
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The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has delayed until early this summer the effective date of the predatory lending database pilot program.
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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.
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 The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a February 15th hearing on "The Law and Economics of Interchange Fees." The hearing, chaired by Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL), examined the rates that merchants pay for access to the electronic payment infrastructure that the payment card networks and thousands of other financial institutions have built over the last fifty years.
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INDUSTRY
UPDATE
National/World Headlines
CIT Group Inc. announced on February 6 that it has partnered with MicroBilt Corporation, to create commercial lending and leasing referral programs for credit unions. The programs will feature Small Business Administration (SBA) loans from CIT Small Business Lending, the nation's #1 SBA lender, and equipment financing options through CIT Office & Technology Finance, a unit of CIT Vendor Finance.
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 The Federal Reserve Board has appointed Faith Arnold Schwartz to a three-year term on its Consumer Advisory Council. Schwartz is senior vice president, Government, Housing and Industry Relations for Option One Mortgage Corporation, a national residential lender and subsidiary of H&R Block Inc. In her role, Schwartz is responsible for public policy and relationships with legislators, lenders, non-profits, consumer advocacy groups, as well as housing, regulatory, and trade organizations.
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American Express and GE Consumer Finance announced on January 17 that GE Consumer Finance will issue American Express-branded credit cards in the United States. The first product to be offered under the new agreement will be a Dillard's American Express card, with more American Express co-brand cards expected to follow.
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AFSA
NEWS
Mortgage Division
Advisory Board Meets
Topics covered at the February meeting included current industry issues and pending legislation. Mark Kasak, Assistant VP for Enterprise Fraud Prevention at Option One Mortgage Corporation, was a guest speaker.
Two companies join as active members and six came on board as new associate members. AFSA also welcomes back one active member and one associate member.
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In the January 2006 issue of ISO Focus, AFSA's Director of E-Standards, Mark Zalewski, discussed the emergence and trends of paperless transactions in financial services.
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FOUNDATION
FOCUS
 The 18th Annual NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo took place in the "Financial Health Pavilion" in Washington, DC.
More DetailsAFSAEF encourages registration in one of its three programs for executive development.
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The AFSA conference met for the third year in conjunction with the NADA Exposition—this year in Orlando, Florida. The conference has been a joint effort attracting auto dealers and finance companies together for education and networking.
The 23rd Annual Independents Conference and Exposition will be held on March 29 to April 1, 2006 at the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio. The schedule is full of timely and informative sessions built around the theme: "Exploring Opportunities in a Challenging Environment." 