You Are Cordially Invited To The FTC’s Road Ahead Roundtable

Today, the Federal Trade Commission will host the third in a series of roundtables around the country to gather information on consumers’ experiences in the leasing of motor vehicles at dealerships.

The roundtable also will address what has been learned about auto sales, financing and leasing at all of the roundtables; what consumer and business education initiatives would be useful; and any practices that may harm consumers significantly or that are widespread.

The event will be held today, November 17, 2011, in the FTC’s Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

More information, including the roundtable agenda, is available here.

• WHO: Free and open to the public
• WHEN: Thursday, November 17, 2011, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EST Registration starts at 7:30 a.m.
• WHERE: FTC’s Conference Center 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC
• WEBCAST: The event will be webcast live.
• TWITTER: @FTC will live-tweet the workshop. Follow the conversation using #FTCbcp

This roundtable will gather information on consumers’ experiences in the leasing of motor vehicles at dealerships. The roundtable will also address what has been learned about auto sales, financing and leasing at all of the roundtables; what consumer and business education initiatives would be useful; and any practices that may harm consumers significantly or that are widespread.

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 FTC’s first roundtable, on consumer protection issues involving dealership sales and financing of cars, SUVs, and light trucks, was held in Detroit in April. The second roundtable, on military consumers’ experiences in buying and financing motor vehicles, the role of financial literacy in consumers’ understanding of that process, and fair lending issues, was held in San Antonio in August – Source.