26th National Conference on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation

Registration and Continental Breakfast

Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks

In-House Roundtables: How Corporate Counsel Are Managing Consumer Finance Claims/Class Actions, Compliance Challenges, and Enforcement Actions and Examinations, Selecting and Working with Outside Counsel to Enhance the Client-Attorney Relationship, and

​Achieving Efficiencies with Reduced Budgets and Smaller Staffs

Networking and Refreshment Break

Regulatory Enforcement and Examination Roundtable: The View from Federal and State Agencies and Attorneys General on New and Emerging Initiatives, Enforcement Actions, Examination Procedures, and Investigations

• Assessing the types of investigations and actions that are being brought against financial institutions
• What are the biggest areas of concern for federal agencies and state attorneys general right now?
• Pitfalls to avoid when working with federal agencies and state attorneys general
• What to expect during an examination
• Regulatory enforcement and examination perspectives
• How will the CFPB, the FTC, and other federal agencies coordinate investigations, enforcement actions, and settlements with state agencies and attorneys general?
• The impact of eased preemption under Dodd-Frank and where financial institutions can expect changes
• Effectively responding to investigations

Consumer Finance Class Action Litigation and Settlement Trends and New and Emerging Procedural Considerations: Certification, Class Ascertainability Issues, and Other Procedural Developments, New Cases, Emerging Theories of Liability,

• Assessing the evolving landscape of class litigation
• Overview of recent noteworthy class action cases and settlements
• What is now required in order to obtain or defeat class certification?
• Issues relating to the ascertainability of class and class members
• Evaluating recent developments relating to Rule 23(b) class certifications
• Using expert testimony and data to make a direct challenge to a class certification
• Assessing the latest theories of liability and emerging defense strategies
• Class actions arising from federal and state activities, especially those of the CFPB and state attorneys general
• UDAP/UDAAP litigation and class actions
• Recent developments in class action law and their impact on consumer finance litigation
• New developments relating to jurisdiction and removal under CAFA
• The status of class action waivers and arbitration
• Settlement trends – what types of cases are likely to be settled now and in the near-term?
• Innovative and effective settlement strategies
• Strategic benefits of settling with a class representative
• Impact that insurance can have on settlement strategies
• Impact of recent 7th Circuit decisions on the class action landscape
• New hurdles in obtaining class settlement approvals, particularly in the 7th Circuit
• Strategies for defending consumer finance class actions in unfavorable jurisdictions
• Considerations for corporate counsel when facing a class action
• Managing and defending multiple cases simultaneously (individual claims, class actions, and regulatory and enforcement actions)

and Recent Developments in Settlement Strategies

Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Attendees

The CFPB and the Consumer Finance Industry:

• Lessons learned from recent CFPB enforcement actions and emerging enforcement and investigation trends
• Takeaways from recent CFPB enforcement actions relating to cybersecurity and data privacy
• Assessing the CFPB’s enhanced scrutiny of nonbank ‘larger participants’
• Assessing the CFPB’s priorities and initiatives
• Project Catalyst and its potential impact on innovation in financial services
• Assessing the CFPB’s position on arbitration and what it means for the industry
• Preparing for and responding to CFPB investigations and examinations
• Responding to CIDs (Civil Investigative Demands)
• Trends in the CFPB’s use of UDAAP claims as a broad enforcement tool and lessons learned from recent enforcement actions
• Assessing the definition of ‘abusive’ practices
• Addressing potential UDAAP concerns
• UDAAP and the payday lending industry
• Recent cases dealing with UDAAP
• Assessing coordination efforts between the CFPB and other federal and state agencies, including state AGs
• Rulemaking updates
• Impact of the CFPB’s consumer complaints database on consumer finance litigation
• The CFPB and lender-placed insurance
• Attorney-client privilege and the CFPB

Considerations and Lessons Learned from Recent CFPB Enforcement Actions, Including in the Areas of Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, Gauging the Impact of the Bureau’s Position on Arbitration, Assessing its Expanded Use of UDAAP Provisions, and Evaluating the Bureau’s Enhanced Oversight and Heightened Scrutiny of Financial Institutions and Nonbank ‘Larger Participants’, Including the Student Lending, Auto Lending, Marketplace Lending, and Installment Lending Industries

Networking and Refreshment Break

Residential Mortgages:

• Updates on recent enforcement actions and case law
• Residential mortgage class action and settlement trends
• Non-bank mortgage servicing litigation and enforcement actions
• Litigation relating to transfers of mortgage servicing rights
• Litigation arising from Trial Period Plans (TPPs) that fail to convert to permanent loan modifications
• Lender-placed insurance litigation
• Duty of care owed to borrower by loan servicers
• Recent activity under RESPA
• New developments relating to loss mitigation
• Ongoing impact of the CFPB’s mortgage rules
• Developing best-in-class risk management and regulatory policies and practices
• Foreclosure challenges based on alleged statute of limitations lapses
• Auditing completed foreclosures and conducting foreclosure look-backs
• Attorney fees and related foreclosure filings
• New and emerging claims relating to standing in contested foreclosure cases
• Loan modifications and foreclosure
• Responding to challenges to foreclosures in non-judicial foreclosure states
• Handling borrower counterclaims in contested foreclosures
• Overcoming commonly raised defenses including TILA, SCRA, fraud, and rescission claims
• Preventing bankruptcy from becoming a tool used by borrowers to stall foreclosures
• GSE transfer tax litigation
• MERS litigation developments: Recording fee class actions
• RMBS litigation: Settlement trends

​Lender and Servicer Class Action, Litigation, Settlement, and Procedural Trends With Regard to Loan Mods, Lender-Placed Insurance, Duty of Care, and More; Latest Foreclosure Challenges Tied to Statutes of Limitation; Ongoing Impact of CFPB Mortgage Rules; and Best-in-Class Risk Management and Regulatory Practices

Debt Collection and Credit Reporting Litigation and Enforcement Actions: Developing Effective Defense Strategies for New and Emerging Claims and Managing Government Enforcement Actions Arising From the FDCPA and the FCRA

• Trends in FDCPA litigation
• New and innovative FDCPA claims from the plaintiffs’ bar – and how to defend against them
• Minimizing the risk of exposure to FDCPA claims
• Heightened scrutiny of potential FDCPA violations
• Impact of CFPB rulemaking on debt collection litigation
• Preparing for and managing actions taken by state attorneys general and federal and state regulatory agencies relating to debt collection practices
• How debt collectors have adapted their internal compliance and auditing policies and procedures to minimize future litigation
• Understanding and making use of statistics and data related to debt collection litigation
• Strategies for calculating damages based on net worth
• Assessing the risks associated with sales of debt by creditors
• How clients are working with debt collectors to ensure proper oversight
• Chain of title issues
• Potential impact of the Supreme Court’s decision as to whether a plaintiff asserting a claim under a statute providing for statutory damages (specifically, the FCRA) has standing to bring the case when the plaintiff has suffered no damages
• Impact of CFPB and FTC actions relating to the FCRA
• Trends in FCRA litigation
• Best practices for defending against FCRA claims and class actions
• Minimizing the risk of exposure to FCRA claims
• State claims and FCRA preemption

Conference Adjourns to Day TwoCocktail Reception hosted by:

Continental Breakfast

Views from the Bench: Judicial Perspectives on Class Certification, Arbitration, the Evolution of the Law, Settlement Considerations, the Latest Plaintiff Theories, Emerging Defense Strategies, E-Discovery, Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Litigation, and More

Networking and Refreshment Break

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA): Litigation and Settlement Trends, New Plaintiff Theories, Emerging Defense Strategies, Class Action Certification Issues, and Staying Ahead of the Curve in the Face of Complex and Unclear Rules

• Emerging trends and developments in TCPA litigation
• Settlement trends
• Compliance concerns, enforcement trends, and recent FCC guidance
• Evolving issues relating to consent and revocation of consent under the TCPA
• The latest on the definition of automated telephone dialing system (ATDS)
• Defense strategies for combatting the new wave of TCPA claims and class actions
• Certification issues relating to TCPA class actions
• Overcoming TCPA challenges and limiting TCPA exposure in the face of complex and unclear rules
• How technology can be used to minimize your exposure to TCPA claims
• Practical guidance for what lies ahead

Supreme Court Roundup – Campbell-Ewald, Tyson Foods, Spokeo and Beyond:

• Impact of Campbell-Ewald on class actions
• Reactions to Campbell-Ewald
• Assessing the possibility of mooting class actions through other channels that were left open by the decision
• Evaluating the impact of Tyson Foods on consumer finance class actions
• Assessing the status of Spokeo
• How the fallout from these three cases, and their application by other courts, will impact the class action landscape going forward
• Adapting your consumer finance class action and litigation strategies in anticipation of forthcoming supreme court decisions

Exploring Alternative Avenues to Moot a Class Action in the Wake of Campbell-Ewald, Evaluating the Impact of Tyson Foods, Assessing the Status of Spokeo, and Adapting Your Consumer Finance Class Action and Litigation Strategies in Anticipation of Forthcoming Supreme Court Decisions

Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Attendees

Fair Lending: Managing and Defending Against Claims of Discriminatory, Predatory, and Abusive Lending and Assessing the Status of ‘Disparate Impact’ in Lending Litigation and Enforcement

• Assessing recent cases and actions
• How state and federal agencies are approaching fair lending issues
• Enhanced scrutiny of fair lending issues by the CFPB
• Assessing the status of ‘disparate impact’ in lending litigation and enforcement
• Impact of the Supreme Court’s decision as to whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the FHA
• Defending against the latest claims alleging fair lending violations
• Statistical modeling of decision making/disparate impact analyses
• Maintaining privilege
• Negotiating successful resolutions
• Public relations concerns
• Settlement considerations and strategies

The Borrower’s Perspective: Insights From the Plaintiffs’ Bar and Consumer Advocates

In this session, you will hear from leading plaintiffs’ attorneys and consumer advocates on claims and settlement trends, where cases are headed in the coming months, and how lenders and servicers can work with borrowers to minimize the need for litigation. You will obtain key insights into the types of actions plaintiffs’ counsel are focusing on now and how to prepare for and respond to new and innovative claims, as well as how consumer advocates view the current consumer finance landscape.

Conference Ends