On March 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it obtained a permanent injunction against a credit repair company and its CEO, barring the company from making representations that it can improve consumers’ credit scores. The injunction was issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in relation to an action filed by the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month. In the complaint, the DOJ and FTC allege that the company made false claims that it could remove “all” negative items from consumers’ credit reports, filed fake identity theft reports with the FTC, and accepted advanced fees of up to $1,500 for services that did not produce results for its clients. This conduct allegedly violated the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, the FTC Act, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
The injunction also restrains the company from “creating, operating, or exercising control over any business entity” without first informing the United States. In the press release, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton commented, “The Department of Justice will use all tools at its disposal to stop credit repair agencies from engaging in unlawful conduct targeting financially vulnerable consumers.”