A lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should give consumers considering credit repair services pause, the regulatory body suggests.
In a blog post, the FTC says that customers who used Alex Miller Credit Repair ended up in worse financial shape after using the company’s services.
In the suit, the FTC says that since 2018, the company, formally known as Turbo Solutions Inc., and its owner have scammed people out of more than $10.1 million through their fraudulent credit repair scheme.
“Consumers should never pay for credit repair–it’s a waste of money,” said Andrew Pizor, an attorney with NCLC. “You can get a free credit report and can fix errors yourself by going to annualcreditreport.com. Unfortunately, nothing but time can cure accurate negative information.”
A Call to End Forced Arbitration - Pass the FAIR Act
In response to House passage of the FAIR Act — (Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal), consumer group Public Justice is calling on the Senate to follow suit and take immediate action to protect consumers from forced arbitration clauses.
Public Justice Executive Director Paul Bland notes that forced arbitration clauses in contracts are ubiquitous:
Forced arbitration, however, is not just limited to the workplace. These clauses are also prevalent in consumer contracts, including “44 percent of checking account contracts, 53 percent of credit card contracts, 83 percent of prepaid credit card contracts, 98 percent of tuition agreements at for-profit colleges, and 99 percent of payday loan agreements.
In fact, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) notes:
These clauses deprive people of their day in court when a company violates the law, forcing victims into a system that is often biased, secretive and lawless. Forced arbitration clauses often contain class action bans that prevent either a judge or an arbitrator from seeing or addressing the full extent of a company’s wrongdoing. Forced arbitration frequently completely blocks any relief and operates as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
MORE Consumer News