American Lending Fairness Act of 2026

The American Lending Fairness Act of 2026 allows states to opt out of federal interest rate exportation rules for loans made by their own state-chartered banks and credit unions. It amends existing laws to let a state, through a law or voter-approved measure, declare that federal preemption of state interest rate limits does not apply to loans made by institutions chartered in that state after the opt-out date. The bill also repeals a prior law that had allowed certain state opt-outs, and makes the new rules apply to any opt-outs adopted under that repealed law before this Act's enactment.

Sec. 2, Interest rate applicable to out-of-state chartered financial institutions: This section adds new provisions to the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Act. For insured depository institutions, if a state adopts a law or certifies a voter-approved measure explicitly stating it does not want the federal interest rate exportation rule to apply to loans made by its own state-chartered institutions, then that federal rule no longer applies to such loans made after the opt-out date. The same opt-out mechanism is added for insured credit unions.

Sec. 2(c), Repeal: This part repeals Section 525 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. It also specifies that the new opt-out rules in subsections (a) and (b) govern the legal effect of any state opt-out laws or certifications that were adopted under the now-repealed Section 525 before this Act's enactment.