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A new NAFCU webcast, which aired Tuesday but is available on demand, provides credit unions with legal background on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to help them understand new and enhanced litigation risks arising from ambiguities in the law. Credit unions, banks and other entities have faced a rash of lawsuits in the past year.

During the webcast, which is available on demand in NAFCU's Online Training Center, attorneys Andy Keeney and John Bredehoft from Kaufman & Canoles, P.C., detail the parts of the ADA that could apply to website compliance and resources available to help credit unions mitigate risk.

Keeney and Bredehoft offer hypothetical situations in which a credit union receives a demand letter from an attorney claiming their website violates the law. They also provide guidance on how credit unions might respond to such letters.

NAFCU has been active on ADA, engaging with various stakeholders on the issue. Monday, NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt wrote the National Association of Attorneys General yesterday to bring attention to the lack of guidance for website accessibility under the ADA.

NAFCU has also urged members of Congress to take legislative action. A NAFCU-supported bill – the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 620) – would set conditions for filing civil actions over the failure to remove an architectural barrier to an existing public place, among other things. The bill cleared the House Judiciary Committee in September. NAFCU is actively working to expand the bill's protections to also cover website lawsuits. The association also sent a letter to the committee in October urging members to support additional legislation to clarify website access requirements under the ADA in order to curb frivolous lawsuits.

In addition, NAFCU has been offering several different resources to our members on this issue, including webcasts, guidance and counsel from in-house compliance and legal experts, as well as monthly publications to help member credit unions identify the risks involved so they can make informed business decisions.

Hunt and NAFCU Vice President of Regulatory Compliance Brandy Bruyere have reached out to credit unions facing litigation to offer guidance and solutions. Bruyere also covered the issue in the association's compliance publication earlier this year; the article is available on NAFCU's website.