Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Payday debt relief operation owners banned from debt relief business, (Sep 8, 2016)

By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.

Pursuant to two settlement agreements with the FTC, the owners of a debt relief operation, who typically did business as "Payday Support Center" or "Infinity Client Solutions" and who targeted consumers with outstanding payday loans, will be banned from the debt relief business, the agency announced today (FTC v. PSC Administrative, LLC, Dkt. No. 1:15-cv-00084-WS-B, FTC File No.142 3110).

The FTC’s complaint, which was filed in February 2015, alleged that Jared Irby, Richard Hughes, Coastal Acquisitions LLC, and PSC Administrative LLC falsely promised to resolve consumers’ payday loans through their hardship program. According to the complaint, consumers: (1) paid hundreds of dollars to enroll in the program; (2) stopped making payments to their lenders once they were enrolled; and (3) ended up in deeper financial trouble when the defendants failed to provide the promised debt relief.

Pursuant to a stipulated final order as to Jared Igby, Coastal Acquisitions LLC, and PSC Administrative LLC and a stipulated order as to Richard Hughes, the defendants are banned/prohibited from:

• making misrepresentations about financial and other products and services;

• making unsubstantiated claims about any products or services; and

• profiting from consumers’ personal information and failing to dispose of it properly.

The orders also impose a judgment of more than $23.7 million that will be partially suspended upon the payment of $149,537 by Irby and the corporate defendants and $8,037.27 by Hughes.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama entered the orders on September 7, 2016.

Companies: PSC Administrative, LLC; Coastal Acquisitions, LLC

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews