Alleged Review Ruse By Roomster Gets Busted by FTC and AGs

Cozen O'Connor
Contact
LinkedIn
Facebook
X
Send
Embed

Cozen O'Connor

  • The FTC and a bipartisan group of six AGs have secured a proposed order banning the rental listing platform Roomster and its owners (collectively “Roomster”), from buying or incentivizing reviews.
  • The proposed order will permanently ban Roomster from paying or otherwise providing incentives for consumer reviews, and from using or disseminating reviews where they have a relationship with the reviewer that might affect the review’s weight or credibility. Additionally, the order includes a monetary judgement in the amount of $36.2 million and civil penalties totaling $10.9 million payable to the states which will be suspended after Roomster and its owners pay $1.6 million to the six states.
  • The order further mandates that Roomster monitor all marketing materials used by affiliate marketers on at least a monthly basis, promptly investigate consumer complaints about affiliates; provide refunds to consumers impacted by affiliate misconduct that violates the order; and halting payments and terminating affiliates who pose as consumers or misrepresent their status in other ways.
  • As previously reported, it was alleged that Roomster violated §5(A) of the FTC Act and state statutes by hosting thousands of false reviews relating to properties listed on its site.
Send Print Report

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

© Cozen O'Connor | Attorney Advertising

Written by:

Cozen O'Connor
Cozen O'Connor
Contact
more
less

PUBLISH YOUR CONTENT ON JD SUPRA NOW

  • Increased visibility
  • Actionable analytics
  • Ongoing guidance

Cozen O'Connor on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
Sign Up Log in
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide