On March 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it obtained a permanent injunction and monetary judgment from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (the Court) against three defendants that allegedly deceptively marketed student loan debt relief services. The Court’s order was entered on February 27, 2020, and…
On January 17, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled with several operators of a credit repair scheme for alleged violations of sections 13(b) and 19 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 53(b) and 57b, Section 410(b) of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), 15 U.S.C. § 1679h(b), Section 6(b) of the…
On December 10, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) jointly hosted a workshop on accuracy in consumer reporting. The workshop was divided into four panels and featured a variety of speakers ranging from consumer advocates to industry representatives. Each panel sought to address the…
On December 11, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a settlement with the remaining Defendants in an enforcement action against multiple related companies and their controllers involved in an alleged phantom debt scheme in which the Defendants pressured consumers into paying non-existent debts by threatening legal action…
On December 30, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada had ruled in its favor in a case against the operators of a mortgage scheme that deceived homeowners, which was filed in January 2018. Per the findings of the final…
On December 10, 2019, the FTC announced a settlement with a major for-profit university and its parent company to resolve allegations that they deceived potential students in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C.§ 45. According to the FTC, the defendants used advertisements to attract students…
On December 5, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court in Texas has halted the operations of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that allegedly played a key role in robocalling consumers to promote a credit card interest reduction scheme that bilked consumers out…
On November 12, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that on it had filed a lawsuit against a collection of interrelated companies and individual defendants for allegedly misrepresenting themselves as affiliated with the Department of Education in order to convince consumers to sign up for student loan debt relief. The…
On September 12, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it had settled lawsuits against the operators of two alleged student loan debt relief schemes, and a financing company that assisted them, alleging that they had bilked millions of dollars from consumers. The FTC alleged that the defendants violated the…
On August 27, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a $30 million settlement with an Illinois-based operator of for-profit post-secondary schools and related subsidiaries resolving allegations that the company used lead generators who engaged in deceptive conduct to market its schools in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade…
On July 11, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had obtained a temporary restraining order against defendants operating an alleged student loan debt relief scheme that, according to the FTC, tricked thousands of consumers by making false claims that it would service and pay down their student…
On July 17, 2019, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (Ohio AG) announced that it and the FTC had secured a temporary restraining order from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas against two companies that allegedly defrauded consumers struggling with credit card debt out of millions of dollars. The complaint alleged that…
On July 1, 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James (“New York AG”) announced that together with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), the agencies had entered into a settlement with a debt collection company, a related entity, and corporate officers to resolve a case filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of New…
On June 21, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against affiliated companies offering services to repair consumers’ damaged credit. The FTC’s Complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleged that the companies used deceptive marketing campaigns that promised to eliminate derogatory credit from consumers’ credit reports and raise…
On April 15, 2019, the FTC announced that it had reached a settlement with an online lending company for $3.85 million, resolving allegations that the company had engaged in unfair and deceptive loan servicing practices in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45, the Telemarketing Sales…
On February 25, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that, after a public comment period, it approved a final consent order that had been negotiated in October of 2018 with an online student loan refinancer. The FTC had charged the company with misrepresenting how much student loan borrowers could save if they refinanced their loans through the company’s television, print,…
On February 8, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina granted its motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against 10 debt collection companies and six individuals operating out of New York and North Carolina. The FTC alleged…
On December 14, the Florida Attorney General (AG) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $23 million federal district court judgment against the owner of an Orlando-based “robocall” operation. The massive robocall operation tricked consumers into paying upfront fees of $500 to $1500 for false credit card interest-rate-reduction and debt-elimination services,…
On December 7, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced settlements with the operators of two Florida-based student loan debt relief companies and their principals in connection with its coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative to target deceptive student loan debt relief scams, called “Operation Game of Loans.” In September and October…
On December 7, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida had entered stipulated orders banning the operators of two Florida-based student loan debt relief providers from the debt relief business, the latest actions from the Operation Game of Loans enforcement initiative targeting…