Many of their ads claimed the practice was legal. Settlement of the FTC charges will bar the defendants from violating provisions of the Credit Repair Organizations Act that prohibit charging or accepting payment for credit repair services before the services are provided. In addition, the settlements would bar them from representing that other government identification numbers can be lawfully used to conceal actual credit histories and from misrepresenting material facts concerning credit-related products or any other product or service. The defendants would be required to notify their victims of the illegal nature of their products and would be barred from selling their customer lists. Thirteen of the settlements provide for full consumer redress.
Financial declarations filed by three defendants indicate an inability to provide redress.
Their settlements contain provisions to allow reopening of the issue if defendants are found to have misrepresented their inability to pay. All the settlements contain record keeping provisions to allow the FTC to monitor compliance. FTC File No. FTC File No. The Commission votes to accept the proposed stipulated final judgments were 4-0.