Markets Wired

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The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will co-host a roundtable in Long Beach, California, on October 23, 2014, to examine how debt collection issues affect Latino consumers, especially those who have limited English proficiency. The event, titled “Debt Collection & the Latino Community,” will bring together consumer advocates, industry representatives, state and federal regulators, and academics to exchange information on a range of issues. Topics will include:

• An overview of the Latino community, their finances, and the collectors who contact them;
• Pre-litigation collection from Latino consumers;
• The experience of limited-English-proficiency Latinos in debt collection litigation;
• Credit reporting issues among limited-English-proficiency Latinos; and
• Developing improved strategies for educating and reaching out to the Latino community about debt collection.

The roundtable is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Grand Ballroom at the University Student Union at California State University, Long Beach. The event also will be webcast. The address for the University is 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, California, 90840.

Send your ideas and comments regarding the roundtable event to the following email address: DebtCollectionRT@ftc.gov or info@consumerfinance.gov.

Additional information, including registration and the agenda, will be posted on the event page.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.