FTC Challenges Debt Relief Operation That Left Consumers in Financial Ruin

Four individuals and five companies are identified in a Federal Trade Commission complaint, filed on May 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that they billed consumers as much as $10,000 for promised debt relief services to reduce the amount they owed by 30 percent to 70 percent, but left many consumers in financial ruin (FTC v. DebtPro 123, LLC, FTC, No. SACV 14- 00693 JLS (ANx)).

Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, reported that the “defendants said they would get consumers out of debt, but instead ...