The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a new Final Rule (the “Rule”) on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, targeting unfair and deceptive acts or practices specifically related to consumer reviews and testimonials, allowing the...more
8/19/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Endorsements ,
Fake Reviews ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Misleading Statements ,
New Rules ,
Online Reviews ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Social Media ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Transparency ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
User-Generated Content
The recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vote to ban most non-competes has unveiled a surprisingly bold agenda less than six months out from a U.S. presential election. The FTC’s 3-2 vote was down party lines, with Democrats...more
4/25/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
For-Profit Corporations ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Presidential Elections ,
Restrictive Covenants
On February 6, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed two proposed stipulated orders with a California federal court to permanently ban student debt relief companies as well as their individual operators. The...more
2/7/2024
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt Relief ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Fraud ,
Fraudulent Marketing ,
FTC Act ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Student Loans ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Summary of New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2989 - In September 2022, we provided a regulatory update about the then-recently proposed New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2989 (“NJ S.B. 2989”) entitled, “Makes certain for-profit debt...more
This article highlights the few newsworthy actions and events we wrote about the debt settlement industry throughout the year. The debt settlement industry did see some movement by regulatory bodies across the board, though...more
12/20/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Settlement Services ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Injunctions ,
Marketing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Robocalling ,
Student Loans
On July 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the FTC, along with over 100 federal and state law enforcement partners, have launched an extensive campaign named "Operation Stop Scam Calls" to combat the...more
7/20/2023
/ Consumer Information ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Lead Generators ,
Robocalling ,
Scams ,
State Attorneys General ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Telephone Service Providers ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
VoIP ,
Websites
On June 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) introduced a groundbreaking proposal to combat deceptive marketing practices involving fake reviews and endorsements. This proposed rule aims to protect consumers seeking...more
On June 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a civil lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the use of "dark patterns" to deceive consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions. What is...more
On June 14, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will be providing over $3.3 million in payments to consumers who fell victim to the deceptive practices of Arete Financial Group (“Arete Financial”), a...more
Just last week, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued XCast Labs, Inc., a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, for its alleged involvement in facilitating illegal robocalls. Despite receiving multiple warnings, the...more
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtained temporary restraining orders against two student debt relief companies in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC thereby temporarily...more
5/9/2023
/ CARES Act ,
COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Deceptive Intent ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Injunctions ,
Loan Repayment Issues ,
Restraining Orders ,
Student Loans
On April 28, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtains multiple orders banning operators of an alleged credit card debt relief scheme based in Tennessee, who agreed to the court orders which permanently ban them from...more
On March 24, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it settled a case against three companies plus individuals charged with running a telemarketing extended auto warranty scheme that cheated people out of...more
Recent Consent Order Issued by the DFPI Against Student Loan Relief Company -
On February 28, 2023, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it has entered into a Consent Order...more
3/2/2023
/ California ,
California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Relief ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
FTC Act ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Student Loans ,
Telemarketing
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking action against Stratics Networks, a company that allegedly provided the technology for telemarketers to make tens of millions of illegal robocalls. The company's services were used...more
On November 21, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District Of Tennessee granted the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC’s) ex parte motion for, among other relief, a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) to shut down an...more
12/1/2022
/ Debt Relief ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
TRO ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices