Professor Elizabeth Renuart joined Albany Law School this past summer as an assistant professor of law. This fall, she will teach a class on Commercial Law Survey, which introduces students to commercial law governing contracts for the sale of goods, payment instruments, and credit or loans secured by an interest in goods.

"I hope to bring my practical experience to bear so students can see why this area of law is so influential in their lives and those of all other consumers and businesses in the United States," she said.

Before joining the law school, Professor Renuart was an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in its Boston office, focusing on predatory lending, Truth in Lending, consumer credit issues and sustainable homeownership issues. Prior to joining the NCLC in 1996, she was the managing attorney of a legal services program in Baltimore that provided representation to homeowners in danger of losing their homes.

"We saw the beginnings of what resulted in the current foreclosure and economic crisis then and, in particular, starting in 1994 when Wall Street started packaging and selling securities based upon these mortgages," recalled Professor Renuart, who earned her law degree at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. "That morphed into the ‘subprime' market and things took off from there."

While at the NCLC, Professor Renuart co-authored two of the organization's treatises, Truth in Lending and The Cost of Credit: Regulation and Legal Challenges. She is also the author of the recently published Stop Predatory Lending: A Guide for Legal Advocates. Her current research and writing is focused specifically on using data obtained from hundreds of mortgage loan documents to assess the vitality of a current federal disclosure law addressing the financial information that must be provided before and at the closing of a loan.

Professor Renuart recently settled into a new home near Northampton, Mass.  Her new location allows for an easy commute to Albany, as well as plentiful opportunities to pursue hobbies such as canoeing, hiking, biking and perusing produce at farm stands.