Second FTC Roundtable to Discuss Motor Vehicle Sales and Financing Issues; Focus on Military Consumers, Financial Literacy, and Fair Lending

The Federal Trade Commission will host its second roundtable to gather information on consumers’ experiences in the sale and financing of motor vehicles at dealerships. The roundtable will be held in San Antonio, Texas, on August 2-3, 2011, and will cover topics regarding military consumers’ experiences in buying and financing motor vehicles, the role of financial literacy in consumers’ understanding of that process, and fair lending issues.

The FTC held its first roundtable on consumer protection issues involving dealership sales and financing of cars, SUVs, and light trucks, in Detroit in April 2011. A third roundtable is expected to be held in the coming months.

Buying or leasing a car is among the most expensive transactions that many consumers make. Financing obtained at a dealership may provide benefits for many consumers, such as convenience, special manufacturer-sponsored programs, access to a variety of banks and financial entities, or access to credit otherwise unavailable to a buyer. Dealer-arranged financing, however, can be a complicated, opaque process and could potentially involve unfair or deceptive practices.

The roundtable will be held at St. Mary’s University School of Law, Classroom Building, One Camino Santa Maria, San Antonio, Texas. The first day will cover the issues of military consumers and financial literacy; the second day will cover fair lending. The roundtable is free and open to the public.

Pre-registration is not required but is encouraged to help staff plan the event. Details can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/motorvehicles/. The FTC will offer a live webcast of the event. The Commission staff will identify and invite people with relevant expertise to participate and may invite others to participate who have submitted requests. Those who want to be panelists at the roundtable may e-mail their name and affiliation to MotorVehicleRoundtables2@ftc.gov, on or before July 15, 2011. Please note that if you submitted a request to participate in the first roundtable, you need not submit another request to participate in the San Antonio Roundtable. All requests to participate that are submitted will be considered for all motor vehicle roundtable events.

Those who wish to submit comments on roundtable topics or on auto sales and finance issues more generally may file comments at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/motorvehicleroundtables2, following the instructions on the web-based form. The FTC will accept comments on roundtable topics or on auto sales and finance issues until the conclusion of all the roundtables.

More information will be posted at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/motorvehicles/ as it becomes available. (FTC File No. P104811; staff contacts are Carole Reynolds, Jim Chen, and Robin Thurston, Division of Financial Practices, Federal Trade Commission; 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580, 202-326-3224.)

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. If you need an accommodation related to a disability, please call Carole Reynolds at (202) 326-3224. Your request should include a detailed description of the accommodations you need and a way to contact you if we need more information. Please provide advance notice.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.  To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).  The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.  The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.  Like the FTC on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

(FYI Auto Dealers)
(FTC File No. P104811)