Federal Trade Commission
FTC Shutters Wide-Ranging Operation That Perpetrated Phony Mortgage Relief Scam
WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 12, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal court has entered orders against 22 defendants who offered financially strapped consumers fake home-loan modification services that the FTC claims violated the FTC Act and the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule. The MARS Rule bans mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they deem acceptable
Court Orders Judgment of Nearly $515,000 Against Mortgage Relief Pitchman
WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 27, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal district court in Southern California has ordered a judgment of nearly $515,000 against Mark Nagy Atalla, a defendant in a 2013 Federal Trade Commission action targeting deceptive mortgage and debt relief pitches. The court imposed the judgment after finding Atalla had hid assets and misrepresented his financial condition to the agency. The judgment originally was suspended in Atalla’s settlement order with the Commission, based on his supposed inability to pay.
FTC Requests Public Comments on SCI’s Applications to Approve Sale of Funeral Home and...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 12, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission is currently accepting public comments on two applications by Service Corporation International (SCI) to sell certain funeral home and cemetery assets, as required under the FTC’s May 2014 order settling charges that SCI’s acquisition of Stewart Enterprises, Inc. would likely be anticompetitive. In total, the order requires the combined SCI/Stewart to divest 53 funeral homes and 38 cemeteries to ensure competition is maintained in 59 communities throughout the United States
FTC Mails Refund Checks Totaling Approximately $800,000 to Consumers Victimized by Alleged Mortgage Relief...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission, through an administrator, is mailing checks totaling approximately $800,000 to 1,305 consumers who fell prey to two related mortgage relief scams.
FTC Mails Refund Checks Totaling Nearly $3 Million to Consumers Victimized by Alleged Mortgage...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission, through an administrator, is mailing checks totaling nearly $3 million to over 6,300 consumers who were victims of a mortgage relief scheme. Using names such as Prime Legal Plans and Reaching U Network, the defendants allegedly made false promises that they could help consumers save their homes from foreclosure or lower their mortgage payments
Defendants in Phony Mortgage Relief Scheme to Pay Nearly $3.6 Million; Orders Ban Them...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 14, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The South Florida-based defendants in an alleged mortgage relief scam will surrender their assets and be banned permanently from providing mortgage relief and debt relief services to consumers under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. This settlement represents the FTC’s largest judgment to date against a purported mortgage assistance relief provider.
Defendants in Two Financial Services Schemes Banned from Providing Mortgage and Debt Relief Services
WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The defendants in two separate alleged scams have settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission and will be banned from providing mortgage- and debt-relief services. The cases are part of the FTC’s continuing crackdown on scams targeting consumers in financial distress
FTC Conducts Undercover Inspections of Funeral Homes in Eight States to Press Funeral Homes...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 24, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Investigators working undercover in eight states detected significant violations of Federal Trade Commission consumer protection requirements in 23 of 127 funeral homes they visited during 2012.
FTC Testifies before Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Debt Collection and...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 17, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission told a U.S. Senate subcommittee that it continues to crack down on unlawful debt collection practices through an active program of vigorous law enforcement, education and public outreach, and research and policy initiatives.
FTC Halts Allegedly Phony Mortgage Relief Scheme
WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission filed suit in federal court to halt a mortgage relief scheme that allegedly deceived and preyed on distressed homeowners by charging them $2,000 to $4,000 based on bogus foreclosure rescue claims
Mortgage Broker Targeting U.S. Servicemembers Will Pay Record $7.5 Million to Settle Alleged Telemarketing...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The FTC infographic “10 Years of Do Not Call,” which shows a timeline of the registry’s popularity and development, cases brought against violators, and results in efforts to protect consumers.
FTC Sends Refunds to Consumers Harmed by Foreclosure Relief Scheme
WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission mailed 341 refund checks to Spanish-speaking consumers who lost money to scammers who promised to stop foreclosure or obtain mortgage loan modifications. Under a summary judgment order, the Dinamica Financiera defendants were banned from selling mortgage loan modification or foreclosure relief services.
FTC Approves Final Order Settling Charges Against Equifax Information Services LLC
WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 15, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that Equifax Information Services LLC violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act by improperly selling lists of millions of consumers who were late on their mortgages.
Marketers of Alleged “Mass Joinder” and “Forensic Loan Audit” Mortgage Relief Services Scams Settle...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) --The defendants behind an alleged mortgage relief scam have agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceived cash-strapped consumers into believing they could hold onto their homes and reduce their mortgage payments by either suing their mortgage lenders in so-called “mass joinder” lawsuits or buying “forensic loan audits.
FTC Sends Over $1 Million in Refunds to Consumers Harmed by Mortgage Relief Scheme...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission mailed 17,213 refund checks to consumers who were deceived by an operation that charged an up-front fee for bogus mortgage relief services and posed as a government mortgage assistance program. Under a settlement entered by the court in 2011 as part of the FTC’s continuing crackdown on scams that target homeowners who are behind in their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure, the Residential Relief Foundation defendants were banned from selling debt relief services.
Defendants in Alleged “Forensic Audit” Mortgage Scam Settle FTC Charges
WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 7, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The defendants behind an operation that allegedly preyed on vulnerable homeowners have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they lured people into paying $1,995 or more by holding out bogus promises that they could help them avoid foreclosure and renegotiate their mortgages
FTC Action Leads to Court Order: Home Insulation Marketer to Pay $350,000
WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 31, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal court ordered a home insulation marketer to pay a $350,000 civil penalty for making deceptive and unsubstantiated claims about his products’ insulation capabilities. On the Federal Trade Commission’s behalf, the U.S. Department of Justice won the order on the merits of the case without a trial. The $350,000 figure is the largest civil penalty awarded in a home insulation case
FTC Approves Final Revised Energy Labeling Rule for Home Heating and Cooling Equipment
WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 25, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission is issuing changes to its Energy Labeling Rule, which will add regional information to the familiar yellow EnergyGuide label on residential furnaces and central air conditioners. The additional information on the new labels, including a map, will help consumers and businesses install equipment appropriate for their location under new Department of Energy (DOE) regional efficiency standards
Defendants in Dominican Mortgage Assistance Scam that Allegedly Defrauded Spanish-Speaking U.S. Homeowners Settle FTC...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 08, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of its continuing crackdown on scams that target consumers in financial distress, the Federal Trade Commission obtained a settlement order resolving charges against a nationwide scam operating from the Dominican Republic and banning the defendants from providing mortgage assistance relief.
FTC Warns Mortgage Advertisers that Their Ads May Violate Federal Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 19, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- After reviewing hundreds of mortgage advertisements, the Federal Trade Commission staff has sent letters to 20 companies, warning them that their ads may be deceptive.
