Gary Whalen

The Wealth Effects of Occ Preemption Announcements After the Passage of the Georgia Fair Lending Act Gary Whalen

Rapid growth in subprime lending over the past decade has led to rising concerns about abusivepractices by subprime lenders. By early 2004, those concerns prompted Georgia and more than 30 other states to pass laws designed to eliminate abusive or predatory lending practices by the financial services firms, including those with federal charters, operating within their boundaries. In 2003, the OCC concluded that federal law preempts the provisions of the Georgia Fair Lending Act (GFLA) that would otherwise affect national banks? real estate lending. In early 2004, the OCC adopted a final rule providing that state laws that regulate the terms of credit are preempted.