WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host its second roundtable event in San Antonio to gather information on consumers’ experiences in the sale and financing of motor vehicles at dealerships.

The roundtable will be held on Aug. 2-3 at St. Mary’s University School of Law and will cover military consumer issues, financial literacy and fair lending issues. A third roundtable is expected to be held in the coming months.

Billed as the “Listening Tour,” the FTC roundtable events kicked off at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit on April 12, where approximately 100 dealers, finance company representatives, lawyers, consumer advocates, academics, and state and federal regulators discussed consumer protection issues involving dealership sales and financing of cars, SUVs and light trucks.

The industry fared well in the first roundtable, which was attended by F&I’s Legal columnists Tom Hudson and Michael Benoit of Hudson Cook LLP. Since that event, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) has temporarily exempted dealers from certain requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act. However, auto finance sources will still be subject to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s oversight. The FRB also announced that it still maintains the authority to issue rules for certain motor vehicle dealers.

As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, the federal law that created the CFPB, the FTC will assume expedited rulemaking authority with respect to auto dealers. The FTC launched its Listening Tour to help it determined where it should focus its resources when it assumes its new powers on July 21.

Those interested in being panelists at the August event can e-mail their name and affiliation to MotorVehicleRoundtables2@ftc.gov on or before July 15. Those interested in submitting comments for the August roundtable can do so by clicking here.

For more information, visit www.ftc.gov.