HANOVER, Md. — The Federal Trade Commission announced its second auto dealer roundtable is to be held Aug. 2-3 at the St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio. The FTC says it wants Roundtable II to focus on financing for service members, credit discrimination and financial literacy.

What can we expect from Roundtable II? My crystal ball's a bit murky these days, but we can probably get some ideas from Roundtable I, held in Detroit in April.  Based on what happened at the April event, here are a few predictions.

Where's the Data?

The FTC will once again be in "referee" mode, attempting not to show favor to any particular points of view. An FTC moderator will begin, as in Roundtable I, by stating that the FTC is looking for data, not anecdotes. Anecdotes are what the consumer advocates usually proffer when they are asked for proof of abusive practices by dealers and finance companies.

For the remainder of the day, the consumer advocates who participate in Roundtable II will cheerfully ignore the FTC's admonition and will offer anecdote after anecdote. Industry representatives will use every opportunity to point out that these anecdotes are not the "data" the FTC is looking for.

Here's Some. Or Not.

In an effort to appear to offer the data that the FTC says it is looking for, some consumer advocacy group will come out with a purported "study" in advance of Roundtable II.

Just before Roundtable I, the National Consumer Law Center released a "study" concluding that consumer fraud was a national plague. It made for a great press release, but if you actually bothered to, you know, read the thing, you'd find that the "study" was based on an NCLC survey of 400 lawyers specializing in consumer law, 48 of whom bothered to respond.

Not surprisingly, these consumer lawyers reported that they saw lots of problems in auto sales, lease and finance, since that's what they did for a living. It wouldn't surprise me to see the release of something similar before Roundtable II. 

Wait — Isn't That Already Illegal?

The consumer advocates' anecdotes will nearly all involve egregious actions on the part of some dealer and finance company — actions that already violate one or more state or federal laws.

If the ground rules for Roundtable I had precluded discussion of acts and practices that are already illegal, it would have lasted about 15 minutes rather than all day. Look for more of the same from Roundtable II.

How about Things that Have Happened in This Century?

In Detroit, one reaction of many industry observers was that many of the consumer advocates' horror stories and recitations of bad acts and practices on the part of industry reflected things that went on in the industry 10 or 15 years ago but which were not descriptive of current business practices.

Expect more of the same in San Antonio.

Mum's the Word.

The consumer advocates will not utter a word about the government's already-powerful arsenal of laws that, if enforced, would address the evils that they will bemoan.

Consider, as an example, the Pentagon's assertion that predatory lending practices undermine the combat-readiness of our armed forces, then consider that every base commander in the U.S. has the authority to stop service members from frequenting business that the commander believes to be treating service members unfairly (you'd think that if commanders actually believed that their combat readiness was imperiled, they'd use that power).

You aren't likely to hear about that from consumer advocates.

You have to commend the FTC for its "listening tour" and for what has thus far been an even-handed approach to understanding the business of auto sales, financing and leasing.

I'll be encouraged if Roundtable II continues the FTC's approach thus far.

You can actually join me and attend Roundtable II — go to the FTC's website for details. If you can't attend (San Antonio in August?  What's not to like?), you can follow the action online.

If you're tied up that day, transcripts of the panel discussions will be available on the FTC's website.

Tom Hudson, a partner in the Maryland office of Hudson Cook LLP, publishes Spot Delivery, a legal newsletter for dealers, and is editor in chief of CARLAW, a monthly report of legal developments in all states for the auto finance and leasing industry. For more information, call (410) 865-5411 or visit www.counselorlibrary.com .