Jay Harris

Jay is a partner in the firm's Washington, DC office, where he is a member of the Credit Reporting, Privacy, and Data Security Practice Group. His practice focuses on consumer protection matters that impact rental housing operators and consumer reporting providers. Jay counsels property management firms, consumer reporting agencies, service providers, and trade associations in complying with consumer financial laws and prohibitions, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Housing Act, Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, and consumer data access, privacy, and safeguards laws. He is an experienced attorney, government affairs professional, and business leader in the rental housing and consumer reporting industries.

Prior to joining Hudson Cook, Jay ran his own law practice from 2016 to 2023, advising property management vendors, rental housing providers, tenant screening providers, and trade associations on consumer financial services and landlord-tenant law compliance.

He has been General Counsel for a leading debt collections agency, where he led the adoption of the firm's first enterprise compliance program, and General Counsel for the tenant screening subsidiaries of two publicly traded firms, where he directed litigation defense and enterprise compliance programs. As a business leader, he also ran a leading wholesale public records provider with full profit/loss responsibility.

Earlier, Jay was Vice President and Regulatory Counsel for the National Multi Housing Council and National Apartment Association Joint Legislative Program, where he advised and advocated for the apartment industry on consumer reporting and tenant screening under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act data privacy and safeguards, electronic marketing, debt collections, consumer bankruptcy, and music licensing.