H.R. 7866 — American Lending Fairness Act of 2026

This section amends the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1785(g)) to allow a state, through enacted law or certification of voter-approved provision explicitly opting out, to exempt state-chartered insured credit unions from federal interest rate preemption under paragraph (1) (i.e., authority to charge interest rates without regard to state usury laws) on loans made (or committed to) by such institutions after the opt-out date. (As background, FCUA §205(g)(1) preempts state usury limits to enable federally insured credit unions to charge market interest rates nationwide, including up to 18% annually or higher as authorized by the NCUA Board.) The section also (1) makes parallel changes to the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831d) permitting state opt-outs of interstate interest rate exportation authority under §27(a) for state-chartered insured banks; (2) repeals DIDMCA §525 (12 U.S.C. 1730g note), a prior temporary state opt-out provision; and (3) applies the new amendments retroactively to any prior state opt-outs under §525.