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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for NACA
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250902T140000
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DTSTAMP:20250903T130900Z
CREATED:20250815T171401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250903T130900Z
UID:24229-1756821600-1756827000@www.consumeradvocates.org
SUMMARY:How to Issue Spot and Litigate FCRA Cases Involving Inaccurate Tenant Screening Background Check Reports
DESCRIPTION:As the criminal justice system comes under scrutiny\, our national reckoning should include reining in the outsize influence that police and courts wield in the lives of millions of people outside the formal legal system. Records created by police and prosecutors are routinely accessed in tenant screening background checks — and regularly used to discriminate against millions of Americans seeking both jobs and apartments. But employment and tenant screening background check reports don’t necessarily provide an accurate portrayal of a person’s past. Employment and tenant screening CRAs routinely mismatch people\, omit crucial information about a case\, provide misleading information\, and misclassify offenses when preparing consumer reports in the form of employment and tenant screening background checks. \nMeanwhile\, an increasing number of American consumers cannot afford to purchase a home and\, therefore\, must rent. Landlords are leveraging technology and data to make more informed decisions\, leading to more comprehensive tenant screening processes\, including comprehensive background checks. This includes checking credit history\, criminal and civil records\, and rental history. Trying to apply for and obtain affordable housing is tough enough\, the last thing prospective tenants need is inaccurate criminal or civil record information showing up in their tenant screening background check reports. \nIf you are investigating and/or litigating FCRA cases against some or all of the main players in the tenant screening world (such as\, TURSS\, RentGrow\, First Advantage\, AppFolio\, and On-Site/RealPage) you need to understand how to effectively issue spot and conduct discovery to increase your settlement leverage\, prevail on your claims at summary judgement\, and ultimately win at trial. \n\nWhat You Will Learn: \n• How to properly issue-spot when handling tenant screening leads and what facts must be present to have an FCRA claim worth pursuing\n• How to ensure that your client’s case/claims are ripe before filing/pursuing litigation\n• How to identify the critical documents you need in discovery to prove and win your case\n• How to gain leverage through discovery to increase the overall value of your case \n\nSpeaker \nHans Lodge is a zealous advocate and is dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers in and out of court. Mr. Lodge assists consumers who have been denied jobs or housing due to inaccurate criminal and civil record history reporting in their employment screening and tenant screening background check reports. Mr. Lodge also assists consumers who have been denied credit due to inaccurate information reporting in their credit reports and have suffered harm due to unlawful debt collection behavior. Mr. Lodge primarily focuses his practice on claims brought under the FCRA on behalf of consumers against CRAs\, which include Equifax\, Experian\, and Trans Union and various employment and tenant screening CRAs. Prior to joining Berger Montague PC\, Mr. Lodge combined his passions for fighting for the little guy and oral advocacy by representing consumers in individual and class action litigation where he held businesses\, banks\, background check companies\, credit bureaus\, and debt collectors accountable for illegal practices.
URL:https://www.consumeradvocates.org/events/online-training-courses/how-to-issue-spot-and-litigate-fcra-cases-involving-inaccurate-tenant-screening-background-check-reports/
CATEGORIES:Online Training Courses
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T150000
DTSTAMP:20250911T125813Z
CREATED:20250822T155405Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250911T125813Z
UID:24308-1757512800-1757516400@www.consumeradvocates.org
SUMMARY:Creative State Tools in Forced Arbitration Policymaking
DESCRIPTION:Forced arbitration clauses\, ubiquitous in consumer contracts\, can only be eliminated outright via federal law. Advocacy campaigns to restrict the practice are ongoing and have been successful so far in banning the practice for narrow legal claims and specific populations. While the Federal Arbitration Act looms\, state policies have been enacted to tackle injustices borne out of the restrictive contract terms. For example\, the chronic nonpayment of arbitration fees by corporate defendants has long delayed and denied justice for consumers seeking accountability. State law has sought to change that.\nThis webinar will cover recent efforts to chip away at forced arbitration\, and how to replicate these creative strategies at the state level to fight back against this often harsh and unjust process. \n\nWhat You Will Learn \n• What California’s state law (and its high court’s preemption analysis) could mean for other states’ policymaking on arbitration.\n• How a lawsuit against AAA could spur a positive change in the forced arbitration system\, or encourage better practices.\n• What factors and tactics to consider when seeking arbitration-related policy changes in your state \n\nSpeakers\nDavid Chami is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner for Consumer Justice Law Firm with approximately 30 lawyers licensed to practice in 35 states. David’s firm primarily handles cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other adjacent consumer protection statutes. David has been involved in thousands of consumer protection lawsuits and nearly a thousand cases that have been filed in Arbitration over the past 10 years. David’s firm recently filed an anti-trust lawsuit against AAA arguing that its business model has created barriers to entry for competitors and has resulted in a forum which prevents the administration of justice rather than simply making it more efficient. \nHannah Kieschnick is a senior staff attorney on the Access to Justice Project at Public Justice\, a national public interest advocacy organization that specializes in precedent-setting\, socially significant civil litigation. Hannah litigates high-impact appeals across the country involving access to justice\, including forced arbitration. She also regularly speaks at national conferences on topics such as arbitration and class certification. Along with co-counsel\, Public Justice filed an amicus brief in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court\, a recent case in the California Supreme Court that upheld the constitutionality of a state law addressing company’s failures to pay arbitration fees. \nChristine Chen Zinner is the Federal Research and Advocacy Director at the Alliance for Justice\, working to build a rights-expansive federal judiciary that is both demographically and professionally diverse. She began her consumer advocacy journey as the 2006 Esther Peterson Fellow at Consumer Reports and since then\, has continued working on proposals to protect consumer rights\, increase corporate accountability and end forced arbitration. While at the American Association for Justice\, Christine was part of the team that helped pass the Speak Out Act\, a federal law that prohibits the enforcement of non-disclosure agreements stemming from instances of sexual assault and harassment. Christine has also led several consumer financial justice initiatives to help build an equitable financial system that serves everyday people and not just billionaires and the powerful few. She has appeared as a consumer policy expert on NPR’s Morning Edition\, and has been quoted in a number of media outlets\, including the NY Times\, USA Today\, the Washington Post\, the Los Angeles Times\, MSNBC\, Bloomberg\, the Guardian\, and the American Banker. \nChristine Hines is senior policy director at the National Association of Consumer Advocates. \n\nPlease note that this event is free to NACA members and non-members. All will have access to the recording after the webinar has aired.
URL:https://www.consumeradvocates.org/events/online-training-courses/creative-state-tools-in-forced-arbitration-policymaking/
LOCATION:NACA’s Learning Platform
CATEGORIES:Online Training Courses
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250917T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250917T150000
DTSTAMP:20250918T121858Z
CREATED:20250822T150100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250918T121858Z
UID:24302-1758117600-1758121200@www.consumeradvocates.org
SUMMARY:How To Help Shape Your State’s Laws
DESCRIPTION:When it comes to making and defending strong consumer protections\, much of the attention has moved from the federal government to state legislatures. For busy attorneys who want to become substantially or partially active in their respective state’s lawmaking\, this presentation will provide an overview of how to get started\, who to engage with\, what to expect from the process\, who and what to watch out for\, and how to evaluate your progress. Hear from consumer attorneys and advocates who have conquered the legislative process in their red and blue (and in larger and smaller) states. \n\nWhat You Will Learn\n• What factors to consider before starting the quest to lobby your state legislature\n• What are states’ legislative processes like\n• What critical action items to do before and after a bill is introduced\, including identifying key players\n• What are critical steps to take to successfully oppose a harmful bill. \n\nSpeakers\nLynn Drysdale is Division Chief of the Consumer Advocacy & Litigation Unit at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid\, where she has worked since 1988. Over her career\, she has represented consumers in individual and class actions related to consumer protection\, including cases involving residential mortgage lending\, servicing\, and foreclosure. She regularly engages in legislative advocacy on these and other subjects\, testifying annually before the Florida legislature as well as twice before Congress. Ms. Drysdale is also a prodigious legal educator\, regularly serving as a trainer for organizations including the National Consumer Law Center and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. She also taught a course on consumer law at the University of Florida College of Law for over ten years. She was Chair of the Mortgage and Small Business Lending Markets subcommittee of the Consumer Advisory Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until fired by President Trump in his first term. She received her J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law. \nRosemary Shahan is the president and founder of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS). CARS is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading pro-consumer advocacy groups. CARS has spearheaded enactment of many landmark measures to improve protections for new and used car buyers and enhance auto safety\, in California and nationally. CARS is also on the forefront in working to preserve access to justice. Rosemary has been repeatedly invited to testify before Congress\, and is widely quoted by major news organizations. She has received numerous awards\, including from the Consumer Federation of America\, National Consumer Law Center\, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Recent legislative victories: Leading successful efforts in multiple states to defeat car dealer “license to kill” legislation that would have allowed car dealers to get away with selling hazardous unrepaired recalled cars that maim or kill people. On the brink of passage: Leading efforts in California to support enactment of the nation’s most sweeping overhaul of car buying practices\, including a first-in-the-nation 3-day cooling off period for used car buyers. \nYoung Walgenkim is an attorney in Salem\, Oregon specializing in auto fraud\, and he is a member of NACA’s board. His passion for consumer rights began at a young age as he witnessed his immigrant parents fall victim to financial exploitation by unscrupulous businesses. Since opening his firm after law school\, Young has devoted his practice to righting wrongs perpetuated by car dealers on all fronts. In 2019\, Young’s advocacy steered a bill through the Oregon legislature that provides attorney fee awards for consumers in vehicle title violation claims. In 2021\, he navigated legislation that requires Oregon courts to reward attorneys who promote access to justice in fee hearings. This year\, Young was instrumental in passing an amendment to significantly improve Oregon’s Yo-Yo statute. \n\nPlease note that this event is free to NACA members and non-members. All will have access to the recording after the webinar has aired. Click here to join the live webinar.
URL:https://www.consumeradvocates.org/events/online-training-courses/how-to-help-shape-your-states-laws/
CATEGORIES:Online Training Courses,Upcoming
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250918T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250918T150000
DTSTAMP:20250919T125544Z
CREATED:20250908T142236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250919T125544Z
UID:24981-1758204000-1758207600@www.consumeradvocates.org
SUMMARY:Truth\, Trust\, and Taboos: Ethical Consumer Advocacy for Immigrant Clients
DESCRIPTION:Immigrant consumer clients face unique vulnerabilities that can create complex ethical challenges for their attorneys. Cross-cultural and linguistic barriers\, combined with the shifting and uncertain landscape of U.S. immigration policy\, require consumer attorneys to approach representation with heightened care and awareness. This session will help attorneys strengthen their consumer law practice\, ensuring they can effectively protect and advocate for immigrant clients in today’s legal environment. \n\nWhat You Will Learn \n\n\n\nHow to recognize common ethical challenges that arise when representing immigrant consumer clients.\nHow to apply practical strategies to navigate cross-cultural and language barriers in client representation.\nHow to develop approaches to fulfilling ethical duties while advocating for immigrant clients within the current\, evolving immigration policy landscape.\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers \nMonica Eav Glicken is the CEO/Executive Director and General Counsel of Public Law Center in Santa Ana\, CA.  Monica served as the Directing Attorney of PLC’s Immigration Unit from 2018 to 2022\, where she worked with community-based and advocacy organizations serving Orange County’s immigrant and refugee communities. Prior to joining Public Law Center\, Monica served as a Counseling Attorney and Adjunct Lecturer in UC Irvine School of Law’s Immigration Rights Clinic. As the child of immigrants from Cambodia and the Philippines\, Monica is a long-time advocate for those who must fight to be heard\, working tirelessly to promote greater access to justice and community empowerment. \nSuzanne Iazzetta is the Directing Attorney of Public Law Center’s Consumer Law Unit\, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law\, teaching a course/clinic in Consumer Rights and Economic Justice.  Some of the areas of law that Suzanne has worked on in her career are all facets of consumer law\, bankruptcy (business and personal)\, housing/eviction matters\, foreclosure defense\, FDCPA\, FCRA\, TCPA\, and UDAAP claims\, and debt collection defense. Suzanne also spent time as a staff attorney for a chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee in New Jersey and had her own solo practice for many years before joining Public Law Center. \n\nPlease note that this webinar is open to the whole consumer law community. Non-members will need to be verified to register for the webinar. The webinar and its recording will be free to all. \nThis webinar will be eligible for one ethics credits. NACA webinars are pre-approved for CLEs in California and Pennsylvania. Attendees from other states will need to apply to their state bar for approval. NACA will submit the attendee list from California and Pennsylvania to their respective bars as long as NACA has the attendee bar number noted in the attendee’s NACA profile. \nClick here to join the live webinar.
URL:https://www.consumeradvocates.org/events/online-training-courses/truth-trust-and-taboos-ethical-consumer-advocacy-for-immigrant-clients/
CATEGORIES:Online Training Courses
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250930T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250930T150000
DTSTAMP:20251001T135917Z
CREATED:20250904T173132Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251001T135917Z
UID:24633-1759240800-1759244400@www.consumeradvocates.org
SUMMARY:Marketing Made Simple: Putting NACA’s PSA Videos to Work for You
DESCRIPTION:For many attorneys\, marketing can feel like one more task on an already packed plate. But visibility matters—both for reaching the right clients and for strengthening the impact of consumer protection work overall. \nNACA has developed a series of consumer-friendly animated videos to help you educate\, protect\, and empower your clients and community from fraud – as well as establish you and your firm as experts in this practice area. \nIn this webinar\, you’ll learn simple and effective ways to integrate these videos into your practice. From adding them to your website or social media\, to including them in client communications or presentations\, you’ll leave with concrete steps you can implement immediately. \nBy putting these tools to work\, you not only strengthen your own visibility but also contribute to a broader movement of consumer protection attorneys informing and empowering the public. \n\nWhat You Will Learn \n\nHow to use NACA’s PSA-style videos to highlight your expertise and increase client engagement.\nHow to implement practical\, time-efficient marketing steps that fit into your existing workflow.\n\n\nHow to leverage these tools to build stronger referral networks and elevate the impact of consumer protection advocacy.\n\n\nSpeakers \n“Madison “Maddi” Borison practices consumer protection law as an attorney with the Borison Firm\, LLC. She represents individuals facing abusive debt collection\, credit reporting errors\, predatory lending\, and wrongful repossessions. Maddi’s path into consumer law was shaped by time in both private practice and the courts\, including a judicial clerkship for a Maryland Circuit Court judge. Those experiences gave her a practical understanding of how cases move from initial filing to trial\, and how ordinary people can be overwhelmed by a system built for institutional players. At the Borison Firm\, she works within a team known for holding banks\, lenders\, and collectors accountable. Her role focuses on standing with clients in moments of real vulnerability—when the stakes are not abstract but measured in housing\, wages\, and dignity. \nMichael F. “Mike” Cardoza is a California Consumer Financial Protection Attorney who helps Identity Theft victims regain control of their financial lives by getting the upper hand on banks and credit reporting agencies. Trained as a trial attorney in the U.S. Marine Corps\, Mike has tried cases in federal and state courtrooms. \n\nPlease note that this webinar is free to all. Non-members will need to be verified before registering. Click here to join the webinar.
URL:https://www.consumeradvocates.org/events/online-training-courses/marketing-made-simple-putting-nacas-psa-videos-to-work-for-you/
CATEGORIES:Online Training Courses
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