Why: A car is the most common nonfinancial asset Americans own. For most it's a necessity, not a luxury. Too many families suffer at the hands of unscrupulous dealer-financed lending practices: New CRL research shows consumers pay over $20 billion each year in added, nontransparent dealer markups. "Yo-yo" sales and unnecessary service add-ons make car loans needlessly expensive for millions of consumers.
What: Experts from the Center for Responsible Lending, the National Consumer Law Center, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates will take part in a roundtable held by the Federal Trade Commission and Wayne State University Law School.
When: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM.
Where: Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium, Wayne State University Law School.
Who: Chris Kukla, Senior Counsel for Government Affairs, Center for Responsible Lending.
Delvin Davis, Senior Researcher and co-author of Car Trouble: Predatory Auto Loans Burden North Carolina Consumers, CRL.
John Van Alst, NCLC staff lawyer and expert on auto fraud and finance issues. Author of Fueling Fair Practices: A Road Map to Improved Public Policy for Used Car Sales and Financing (2009), and co-author of Automobile Fraud (2010) and Repo Madness: How Automobile Repossessions Endanger Owners, Agents, and the Public (2010), NCLC.
Dani Liblang, The Liblang Law Firm, Birmingham, Mich., specializes in auto warranty and consumer fraud litigation, plaintiff's personal injury, and employment law. A NACA member, she is a former vice president of the Oakland Chapter of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the Michigan Association for Justice.
Ian B. Lyngklip, Lyngklip & Associates Consumer Law Center, is a former member and chair of the State Bar of Michigan Consumer Law Section Counsel and has served as co-chair of NACA's board.
For more information: Cesar Castro at (919) 313-8537, cesar.castro@responsiblelending.org; or Jan Kruse (617) 542-8010, jkruse@nclc.org.