Consumer and Housing

Consumer and Housing Law Task Force

The statewide legal services Consumer and Housing Law Task Force last met on:

Date: Monday, June 10
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CT

Place: Northside Library,1733 Russell Cave Rd., Lexington

For more info: ben@kyequaljustice.org

Task Force Schedule

Agenda

June 10, 2019

11:00 Welcome and Introductions

11:10 KCPA University

The Kentucky Consumer Protection Act is one of the most powerful tools we have to protect our clients from predation and help them achieve or maintain financial stability. Ben Carter is going to do a tour through the KCPA based on his experience litigating these claims in private practice and at Legal Aid Society before that. In 90 minutes, he’s going to identify the main issues he’s encountered when pursing claims under the KCPA, highlight case law (good and bad) that you need to know about, and talk about the practicalities of settling claims, bringing these cases to trial, and recovering attorney’s fees. All of this to get to the real point: identifying the two areas that need most urgent attention from Kentucky’s appellate courts: the application of the KCPA to landlord-tenant relations and mortgage servicing.

12:15 Working Lunch

12:30 Meet Me at the Crossroads

KEJC’s new Health Law Fellow, Betsy Davis Stone, will lead us in a discussion of the many ways health care and medical billing intersect with consumer law. (Betsy was a consumer attorney at AppalReD before joining KEJC, so she has some ideas.) The Kentucky Consumer Protection Act forbids “false, unfair, deceptive, or misleading” acts or practices. How does that prohibition impact our thinking about surprise medical billing, parsimonious charity care programs, balance billing in Medicaid and Medicare, denial of care or prescriptions for failure to pay co-pays, and more?

1:30 Consumer Law, Housing Law, Race, and Racism

The Kentucky Supreme Court has begun a statewide listening tour about race and the justice system. Meanwhile, the Shriver Center and the National Consumer Law Center are at the early stages of writing a report on Race, Racism, and Consumer Law. We are going to spend an hour talking about the role race plays in our own advocacy, the ways racism impacts our consumer and housing clients (in their lives and in the courts), and the ways we may be able to contribute our experience and understanding to the efforts of the Kentucky Supreme Court, Shriver Center, and National Consumer Law Center.

Last Agenda

January 31, 2019

1:00 Welcome and Introductions

Overview of General Assembly
Consumer and Housing Bills of Concern and Interest
Community Partner Perspective

Find our Bill Tracking Chart here!

Past Meetings

November 2, 2017

Agenda

11:00 Welcome and Introductions

11:15 Dealing with Clients with Mental Health Issues – Tracy Jacobson and Phil Gunning, NAMI Lexington

We’ve all been there. You really want to help this client, but their mental health issues are making it difficult to get the information you need and to discuss options with the client. What to do? Mental health experts will help us figure it out.

12:15 Lunch

12:45 Focus on Debt Collection – Stephanie Willis (LAS)

Stephanie Willis will give us an update on zombie debt collection, including new court decisions on collecting interest. And can the old doctrine of champetry help us represent clients better? Stephanie will also give us short updates on new rules (effective October 19) that amend the current Mortgage Servicing Rules and extend significant new rights to borrowers seeking loss mitigation. We’ll also briefly discuss the Equifax security breach and Wells Fargo’s latest scandal in auto insurance.

Amendments to Federal Mortgage Disclosure Requirements Under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z)

1:15 Update on CFPB Rulemaking – Anne Marie Regan (KEJC)
Anne Marie will discuss CFPB regulatory activities, including the recently released payday lending rule. But will Congress allow the CFPB to continue regulating this area? What happens now that the new arbitration rule has been stopped in its tracks by a hostile Congress? What about bank regulators? Will they get into the act by reversing bank consumer protections too?

CFPB Payday Lending Rule Fact Sheet

1:30 Break

1:45 Update on Housing Issues - Art Crosby, Executive Director, Lexington Fair Housing Council

Art will give us an update on housing issues he is seeing in Lexington. They are working on a paper about landlords in Lexington who file the most evictions. What impact do multiple evictions have on neighborhoods? He’ll also talk about non-profit shelters. Who can they exclude? And are they covered under landlord-tenant laws? He’ll also give us a rundown on federal guidance on various public/subsidized housing.

2:15 CFPB’s Enforcement Action Against National Student Loan College Trust –Stephanie Willis (LAS)

Recently, the CFPB took action against this trust for illegal student loan debt collection lawsuits, in which the companies could not prove the loans were owed. How can the CFPB determine which loans are legitimate? Find out how they plan to do this and what redress affected individuals can hope to get.

CFPB v. Transworld Systems, Inc (NCSLT):

Additional Materials

2:30 Adjourn

April 18, 2017

Agenda

11:00 Welcome and Introductions

11:15 What consumer and housing issues are your programs addressing? How are you using the Bank of America funds?

Stephanie Willis will give an overview of the Bank of America settlement, a large portion of which has been distributed to legal services programs.
Each of the four LSC programs will give an update on consumer and housing issues and cases in their programs.

Kentucky Legal Aid - Janet Blachowski
Legal Aid of the Bluegrass - Pete Nienaber and Jim McHugh
Legal Aid Society - Stephanie Willis
Appalachian Research and Defense Fund - Betsy Davis

11:45 Legal Updates

Stephanie Willis will discuss the impact of the Spokeo case on federal litigation. This case heightened the federal pleading requirements. She will also discuss the impact on litigation of the new medical review panels and federal efforts to reign in class actions.

Spokeo Inc. v Robins

12:00 Lunch

12:15 Legislative Update

Anne Marie Regan will discuss significant housing and consumer bills that were passed in the recent legislative session.

Summary of Consumer and Housing Bills Passed in 2017

12:30 Roundtable on Consumer and Housing Issues with Our Partners

Ben Long, Director, Office of Consumer Protection, Attorney General’s Office
Ben will give us an overview of the Office’s role as the Commonwealth’s consumer watch dog. He will discuss the types of complaints his office
receives and the complaint process. He will also tell us about the consumer protection litigation in which the office is involved.

Art Crosby, Executive Director, Lexington Fair Housing Council
Art will discuss recently passed HB 309, which allows victims of domestic violence to terminate rental agreements. He will also tell us about
recent HUD guidance about limits on use of criminal records in renting apartments. We will discuss how these measures might be implemented.

1:30 Break

1:45 Legal Impact Network (LIN) – Gavin Kearney, LIN Coordinator

LIN is a national network of non-LSC programs that is attempting to coordinate national litigation and advocacy strategies around major poverty
issues. Gavin will talk to us about some of the issues and strategies in which LIN is currently engaged.

2:15 Update on CFPB Enforcement and Regulatory Measures

Stephanie Willis will give us an update on litigation and administrative enforcement actions that the CFPB has completed recently.
Anne Marie will discuss recent CFPB regulatory activities, including the payday lending and arbitration rules.

2:30 Short Topics/Case Discussion

Case Discussion - Do you have any cases you’d like to brainstorm about? Bring us your cases to discuss.
Future Topics for Task Force – What ideas do you have for future task force meetings?

2:45 Adjourn