On November 5, 2024, the FTC announced that it had filed suit against a California-based online cash advance provider for allegedly deceptive and misleading advertisements and representations, in violation of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (“ROSCA”), 15 U.S.C. § 8403.z According to…
On November 4, 2024, the FTC announced that it had filed suit against a Georgia-based debt collector for engaging in allegedly deceptive and abusive debt collection practices, in violation of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), the FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p, and its associated Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. Part 1006, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley…
On May 17, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a settlement with an Arkansas bank and nine of its employees, resolving allegations that the bank and the employees violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA),…
On April 25, 2024, the FTC announced that it filed a suit against a Washington-based third-party bill payment company and two of its chief executives for engaging in allegedly deceptive and misleading practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), Section 521 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act), 15 U.S.C. 23 § 6821, and…
On February 2, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an order permanently banning several companies and their owners from the telemarketing and debt relief businesses and requiring them to pay approximately $19 million in restitution and civil money penalties. This order came as a…
On January 24, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had reached a settlement with an online cash advance provider and its co-founders resolving claims that the company violated the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shopper’s Confidence Act (ROSCA), and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), by engaging in allegedly deceptive marketing tactics and…
On November 2, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with a New York based personal finance application over claims that the app violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 45(a), 53(b), 57b, and Section 5 of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act…
On October 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) granted a permanent injunction containing a lifetime ban for the owner of a small-business lending company for unfair business practices and aggressive debt collection methods. On September 27, 2023, Judge Jed. S. Rakoff of SDNY granted summary…
On July 6, 2023, the FTC announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Florida-based vehicle extended warranty provider and its principal under which both agreed to cease all operations and any further involvement with extended automobile warranty sales as a result of what the FTC alleged were deceptive marketing…
On May 8, 2023 the FTC announced that it filed complaints against two loan forgiveness and debt relief companies on April 24, 2023 alleging that they falsely claimed to be affiliated with the Department of Education. The companies allegedly told students that certain fee payments would count toward repayment programs and student…
On September 1, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it reached a settlement with a personal finance company to resolve allegations that it engaged in deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). According to the FTC, the personal…
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…
On January 26, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it resolved claims against the remaining defendants in an action concerning student loan debt relief products and services that commenced in 2019. As we previously reported, the FTC filed a complaint against a collection of interrelated companies in November 2019, alleging that they used fraudulent…
On January 7, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had agreed to a settlement with a company that collected and generated leads for financial services products. In its simultaneously-filed complaint in the U.S. District court for the Central District of California, the FTC alleged that the company collected consumer data through a network…
On December 13, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it reached a settlement with a group of South Carolina-based debt collection companies to resolve allegations that the companies violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The FTC’s complaint, originally filed in July…
On September 9, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it issued a $250 million civil money penalty against a national bank for alleged deficiencies in the bank’s home lending loss mitigation program, and for purportedly failing to meet its obligations under a 2018 consent order…
On May 10, 2021, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a settlement with an Oregon-based bank concerning the bank’s alleged violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1). Under the settlement, the bank stipulated to the issuance of an order to pay a civil money penalty of $1.8 million. The FDIC…
On February 11, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $114 million settlement with the owners and operators of an alleged tribal payday lending scheme. The settlement resolves allegations concerning defendants’ purported violations of the unfair or deceptive practice provisions (UDAP) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud…
On February 10, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will begin distributing over $1.7 million to consumers that it claims lost money as a result of an alleged student loan debt relief scheme. The payments are part of a 2018 settlement with a student debt relief group, previously covered by Enforcement Watch, that resolved…
On February 10, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced settlements with two payment processing companies and two individuals, resolving claims concerning an alleged credit card laundering scheme perpetrated in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 53(b), and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act (Telemarketing Act), 15 U.S.C. §§…