Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized an enforcement action against debt-relief payment-processors RAM Payment and Account Management Systems (AMS), as well as AMS’s co-founders, Gregory Winters and Stephen Chaya, for collecting debt-relief fees from consumers, lying to consumers about when the fees would be paid to debt-relief companies, and sending illegal advance fees … Read more
Yesterday I wrote about the misfortunes of Daniel Rufty, a new North Carolina attorney that learned some very hard lessons about being a local representative for a debt settlement company. You can read that post here. Rufty sued Jason Blust, Law Offices of Jason Blust, Lit Def Strategies, and Relialit after his disciplinary debacle. The … Read more
I just discovered the misfortunes of Daniel S. Rufty, an attorney in North Carolina that was brought before the North Carolina State Bar for his debt relief business. Rufty was a brand new attorney hired to represent an out-of-state group of lawyers for their debt settlement business. Things did not end well for Rufty but … Read more
I previously wrote about Julie Anne Stamps who alleged she was terminated by Ramsey’s company, Lampo Group for being a lesbian. See the section “Gay Woman Fired” in this post. In an interesting turn of events, the Ramsey company, Lampo Group aka Ramsey Solutions, has agreed to pay out $76,900 on claims of “employment discrimination … Read more
The operators of an alleged credit card interest rate reduction scam will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry as part of court orders resolving charges by the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Office of the Attorney General. The defendants—Gino de Paz, Grace de Paz, and Shabana Khublal—allegedly engaged in deceptive and abusive … Read more
Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced that Elevate Credit, Inc. (Elevate), a predatory online lender, will pay at least $3.3 million to refund over 2,500 District consumers who were misleadingly marketed high-cost loans and lines of credit, waive over $300,000 in interest owed by those consumers, and pay $450,000 to the District. The company will … Read more
The remaining defendants in a deceptive student loan debt relief scheme are permanently banned from providing all student loan debt relief products and services in settlements with the Federal Trade Commission. The settlements with Jay Singh, the two corporate defendants he controls, and seven other corporate entities resolve charges the FTC in brought in November … Read more
The court just recorded an apparent final disposition in the Arete Financial Freedom lawsuit. The parties included under the Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Monetary Judgment include Arete Financial Group, Arete Financial Freedom, CBC Conglomerate, 1file.org, Diamond Choice Inc., Interest Rate Solutions, J&L Enterprise, Premier Solutions Servicing, La Casa Bonita Investments, Inc., La Casa … Read more
Back in 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed suit against PGX Holdings, Progrexion Marketing, Progrexion Teleservices, eFolks, CreditRepair.com, Lexington Law, and John Heath. I’ve kept an eye on the case against the credit repair operations but much of it has occurred behind closed doors under sealed documents. But we now have a public … Read more
It appears the case against Consumer Advocacy Center and Premier Student Loan Center is still under management by the Court Appointed Receiver. What follows is the Receiver’s update for activities between May 1, 2021 to October 31, 2021. Premier Student Loan Center Case Summary I. RECEIVERSHIP ACTIVITIES During this period, the Receiver and his team … Read more
I’ve seen a lot of unfortunate situations in the debt relief space. I’ve written about many, but the problem between the Plaintiffs and Defendants and the mutual attorneys in one particular situation seems to be spiraling to a new level I’ve not seen before. No End in Sight Not long ago I wrote Student Loan … Read more
Just a quick update. It seems in the suit by the United States Trustee against Titan Legal Processing they did not respond and a request for a default entry has been filed. This was the original complaint in that case. Titan Legal Processing’s previous posts can be found here. I have no update on any … Read more
Two Florida companies and their CEO will be permanently barred from offering payment-processing services to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that they aided a criminal student debt relief scam that bilked $62 million from thousands of students and their families. According to the FTC’s complaint, Moneta Management, LLC, Moneta Management, Inc., and their CEO Michael … Read more
Let me start by saying my impression and opinion of the Julie Queler mess is based on public records. These are court documents and ultimately the case will have to play out in court. According to a July 7, 2021 court filing, Julie Queler, a Defendant in a suit with GM Law Firm, National Legal … Read more
The State of Connecticut has flexed its muscle against New Jersey attorney Filipe Pedroso and Pedroso Legal Services for providing loan modification assistance. The State says Pedroso is a licensed attorney in New Jersey but not in Connecticut. According to official documents, Pedrosa states he only assisted one Connecticut resident in 2014 but now faces … Read more