Feds take control of Tacoma debt relief biz
TACOMA, Wash. -- On Monday federal officials took control of a local debt-relief company.
The Federal Trade Commission sued United Savings Center & Mutual Consolidated Saving and froze all of the assets of its owners, alleging it violated telemarketing rules.
The FTC claims the company used robo-calls to aggressively target consumers in need of financial help, including those on the national Do Not Call list, by promising lower interest rates. Then, the company allegedly charged high fees while giving very little actual help, effectively cheating clients out of thousands.
The investigation is ongoing, but one representative of Mutual Consolidated claims the company did nothing wrong.
"Most of the time - at least 80, 90 percent of the time - I was able to lower the interest rates on their accounts," said Kristine Pappas, a United Savings Center employee. "With my colleagues, I'd say they were able to get about the same."
The court issued a temporary restraining order against the company, and a receiver took over the business on Monday.
The receiver will decide whether the company can be operated legally and if so, whether to rehire the lower-level employees. The decision will be announced at an FTC hearing in 10 days.
It is not known how many clients were affected or how much money was lost.
For more information:
Don't fall prey to predatory debt-relief help
The Federal Trade Commission sued United Savings Center & Mutual Consolidated Saving and froze all of the assets of its owners, alleging it violated telemarketing rules.
The FTC claims the company used robo-calls to aggressively target consumers in need of financial help, including those on the national Do Not Call list, by promising lower interest rates. Then, the company allegedly charged high fees while giving very little actual help, effectively cheating clients out of thousands.
The investigation is ongoing, but one representative of Mutual Consolidated claims the company did nothing wrong.
"Most of the time - at least 80, 90 percent of the time - I was able to lower the interest rates on their accounts," said Kristine Pappas, a United Savings Center employee. "With my colleagues, I'd say they were able to get about the same."
The court issued a temporary restraining order against the company, and a receiver took over the business on Monday.
The receiver will decide whether the company can be operated legally and if so, whether to rehire the lower-level employees. The decision will be announced at an FTC hearing in 10 days.
It is not known how many clients were affected or how much money was lost.
For more information:
Don't fall prey to predatory debt-relief help