Training and Webinars
NCLC has an on-going series of webinars about working cars for working families sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The webinars are free and open to the public. To sign-up to receive webinar registration emails, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can find past webinars below to download the PowerPoints and recordings. Most webinars on this topic are on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 2pm EST.
Webinar Training
Cars and Insurance Issues
Date: September 22, 2011
By: Doug Heller (Consumer Watchdog), John Van Alst
Presentation Recording
Yo-yo Sales-Understanding Car Dealers' Attempts to Create Conditional Car Sales
Date: May 12, 2011
By: Thomas D. Domonoske (Legal Aid Justice Center), Andrew Ault (Indiana Legal Services), John Van Alst
Presentation Recording
Dodd-Frank, Dealers, and Financers: The Changing Landscape of Federal Consumer Protections for Car Buyers and How You Can Make a Difference
Date: March 31, 2011
By: John Van Alst
Presentation Recording
New Working Cars for Working Families Website and Getting to Know More Than Wheels
Date: February 16, 2011
By: Terri Steingrebe (More Than Wheels), John Van Alst
Presentation Recording
Dealers Going Out of Business, Leaving Consumers Out of Luck
Date: January 20, 2011
By: Bill Brauch, Adam Holley, Keith Kiser, Rosemary Shahan, Jill Miles, John Van Alst
Presentation Recording
The Importance & Impact of Cars for Family Economic Success
Date: December 9, 2010
By: Urvi Neelakantan, Martin Schwartz, Evelyn Blumenberg
Presentation Recording
Add-ons and Loan Packing: How and Why Car Dealers "Pack" Loans
and the Products They Use to Do It
Date: September 16, 2010
By: Mark H. Steinbach, John Van Alst, Mary C. Lobdell
Presentation Recording
Dealer Kickbacks: How Car Dealers are Paid to Put Us in More Expensive Loans
and How We Can Stop It
Date: August 19, 2010
By: Chris Kukla, CRL; John Van Alst, Stuart Rossman
Presentation Recording
Baby, You Can Take My Car: The Dangers of Auto Title Loans
By: Leah Plunkett, Sarah Mattson, Leslie Parrish, Jay Speer
Date: July 15th
Presentation Recording
Transportation and an Aging America
By: Jana Lynott, AARP Public Policy Institute, John W. Van Alst, NCLC
Date: June 9, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM-3:30 PM
Presentation Recording
Collision or Intersection? Car Ownership and Energy and Environmental Concerns
By: Neil Brown, Peter Kilde, Rafael Mares, Olivia Wein
Date: May 20, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Presentation Recording
Repo Madness- Dangers, Developments, and Calls for Change in Auto Repossession Webinar
By: Leah Plunkett, Jay Stanley, Joseph S. Taylor, John W. Van Alst
Date: April 15, 2010
Time: 2-3:30pm
Presentation Recording
Auto Databases: Who knows where that car has been?
By: John W. Van Alst, Bernard Brown, Deepak Gupta, Alissa Huntoon, Howard Nusbaum
Date: March 18, 2010
Presentation Recording Resource
Cars and Working Families, Part 1: Asset Limits
By: John Van Alst, Nick Straley, Hosai Ehsan, David McMahon
Date: August 19, 2009
Recording
Cars and Working Families, Part 2: Cash for Clunkers
By:John Van Alst, Rosemary Shahan, Chris Kukla, Delvin Davis, Lisa Margonelli
Date: August 26, 2009
Recording
CFPB to Crack Down on Race-Based Auto Loans
Press Release: CFPB to Hold Auto Lenders Accountable for Discrimination in Auto Lending
Group Opposes FTC Used Car rule
Consumer groups submitted comments to the FTC
Hurricane Sandy Flood Damaged Vehicles
In the Wake of Hurricane Sandy many vehicles have been heavily damaged by flooding. The National Salvage Vehicle Reporting Program (NSVRP) has some helpful information for consumers, law enforcement, insurers and others about this growing problem.
CA: Say yes to AB 1447 and fair car sales
LA Times series on "Buy Here Pay Here" used car dealers
Treated Unfairly by a Car Dealer? Tell the FTC.
Did you get a fair deal when you bought, leased, or financed your car? If not, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to hear from you.
Learn More
Update Auto Warranty Act
Group comments to the Federal Trade Commission on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Review on auto warranties a and defects
Credit Risk Retention
Comments by National Consumer Law Center and National Association of Consumer Advocates.
Military and CFPB Unveil Joint Statement of Principles
“Working Cars for Working Families: Real Progress, Real Opportunities” Conference
On October 29, 2010, advocates, academics, government regulators, practitioners, and others came together at the offices of the Federal Reserve Board to examine the vital importance of a car to family economic success, the hurdles to car ownership that families face, what efforts are currently being made to overcome these obstacles, and what more can be done to facilitate successful car ownership by families. more
Modernizing the Massachusetts Exemption Laws
Massachusetts has amended its exemptions laws to better protect the family car and other necessities. This law sets out what property debtors are able to protect from unsecured judgment creditors. From the article in the Boston Globe:
The new law updates decades-old property exemptions, allowing consumers to keep a car worth up to $7,500 out of reach of collectors, up from $700 in the past. Owners who are 60 or older or disabled will get a $15,000 car exemption. Consumers also may hold on to $2,500 in a bank account, five times the current level.
“This new law will protect thousands of struggling Massachusetts residents, and allow them to house, feed, and support their families and continue to work as they struggle to pay debts and get back on their feet after an economic setback,’’ said Robert J. Hobbs, deputy director of the National Consumer Law Center.
The entire globe article may be found here.
For more information about the importance of exemptions for cars see this webinar we did last year on exemptions and asset limits.