Valerie L. Hletko

Valerie L. Hletko is a Partner in the Washington, D.C., and Chicago offices of Buckley Sandler LLP, representing a variety of financial services industry participants in complex civil litigation, as well as in investigations and administrative enforcement actions initiated by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and state bank regulatory agencies and state attorneys general.

She has assisted clients with pre-enforcement matters relating to a broad array of consumer financial products and services, including responding to Proposed Action and Request for Response (PARR) letters and managing issues relating to self-disclosure.

She also counsels clients in connection with regulatory examinations and on matters including governance, risk management, fair lending, and compliance with consumer financial laws, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and related state laws, the Military Lending Act (MLA), and prohibitions on unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act: Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) and Section 1036 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act: Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP).

An acknowledged authority in her field, Ms. Hletko has been ranked by Chambers USA Financial Services Regulation: Consumer Finance (Litigation), by Legal 500 for Financial Services: Litigation, Civil Litigation, and Banking, and frequently lectures and publishes on a range of subjects of interest to financial institutions, including fair and responsible banking practices, specialty finance, vendor management, and regulatory enforcement trends.

In 2017, Ms. Hletko co-authored the “Fair Lending Litigation” chapter of the Litigation Services Handbook: The Role of the Financial Expert. She is active in the American Bar Association, where she is Chair of the Retail Banking and Consumer Law Subcommittee of the Banking Law Committee.

She is also a member of the Governing Committee of the Conference on Consumer Finance Law, serves on the Out in Law Leadership Committee, and as a Trustee for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Prior to joining Buckley Sandler at its inception in 2009, Ms. Hletko was an Associate with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. She holds a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, an M.T.S. from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Kenyon College.