USOBA Announces its First Round of Conference Speakers

Houston – The United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives (USOBA), a trade association for the debt settlement industry advocating for fair regulation and consumer protection, confirmed the first group of speakers for its 2009 Summer Conference today. This summer, the conference will be at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, IL from June 7 – 9. USOBA encourages all of its members as well as non-members to attend the conferences.

The mission of USOBA is to create and advocate an agenda solely for the debt negotiation industry. Through industry conferences, USOBA brings distinguished speakers that share their wisdom, knowledge, and interest of the debt settlement industry at all levels

General Counsel for EFA Processing, John Ansbach will be leading a panel discussion on how debt settlement companies can effectively build rapport with the media and consumers. In addition to serving as General Counsel, Ansbach also speaks on request from Fortune 500 Companies and National non-profits on several topics including marketing and branding and generational diversity. Currently, Ansbach is the co-chair for the USOBA Public Relations and Marketing Committee.

Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum and Jonathan L. Pompan of Venable LLP will both be speaking at the conference. Tenenbaum chairs Venable’s Credit Counseling and Debt Settlement Industry Practice Group. He is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit attorneys, and also is an accomplished and respected author and lecturer. Pompan concentrates his practice on providing legal counseling to trade associations, among other areas. He provides a broad range of legal services to credit counseling agencies and debt settlement companies, and their vendors.

Eddie Reeves, managing director of Public Strategies Incorporated will also be speaking at the conference. He served as Congressman J.J. Pickle’s policy advisor on federal budget, banking, housing, and health care issues. An experienced speaker, Reeves last spoke at USOBA’s 2008 Winter Conference in San Diego, California.

Raymond Bell, Vice President of Creditors Interchange Receivables Management LLC, will be part of the Creditor Panel at the conference. Bell managed the bankruptcy and probate departments for three national credit card banks and was a former manager in two law firms servicing consumer bankruptcies for creditors. Bell is a regular speaker and commentator at seminars and conferences on the subject of consumer bankruptcy.

Executive Director of DBA International, Roger Knauf, has also committed to speaking at this year’s conference. DBA International is a source of knowledgeable industry participants that represents its membership, the debt buying industry, to Federal and State agencies and supports the industry where appropriate in Appellate cases of significance.

"USOBA conferences afford individuals across the debt settlement industry the opportunity to gain a wealth of invaluable knowledge," USOBA Executive Director Jenna Keehnen said. Compliance is always a top priority in this industry, and USOBA conference speakers cater to that with the educational and informative experience for the attendees."

About USOBA
USOBA is dedicated to providing its member companies with important, industry-related information, including compliance requirements, as well as advocating on behalf of its membership for fair and appropriate industry regulation that maintains the utmost in consumer protection. USOBA members are provided a USOBA State Law Summary guide, the only one of its kind in the industry, to better ensure and promote national compliance. This guide contains the laws and regulations, state by state, and has been reviewed by regulators and legislators. For further information, please visit www.usoba.org.