The U.S. Senate passed a major financial reform bill last night, but in the end, a major loophole didn’t see the light of day. As we wrote in the LemonJustice blog a couple of days ago, there was a hard push by auto dealers and their lobbyists to exempt auto dealers from oversight by the new Bureau of Consumer Protection. According to the New York Times, the amendment’s sponsor, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) withdrew the amendment at the eleventh hour. This is wonderful news for consumers – particularly service members who are often victims of auto dealer fraud.

Although the Senate version of the bill and the House version of the bill need to be combined (a process that could take several weeks), it appears as though auto dealers will face much-deserved scrutiny by the new consumer protection agency. That’s a victory for hard-working Americans all across the country.