Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted an order brought by the FTC against a debt relief company for violations of several statutes. The court agreed that the defendants have: (i) made deceptive representations in the marketing of student loan debt relief services; (ii) made false advertisements by posting fabricated reviews; (iii) provided documents in a language other than the one defendant used to offer debt relief services; and (iv) misrepresented an affiliation with the U.S. Department of Education. The allegations violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and three violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), a violation of Section 521 of GLBA. The court issued a temporary restraining order and an asset freeze.

There were four components to the court’s order. Regarding the first component, the defendants were prohibited from (i) misrepresenting any facts, (ii) misrepresenting any endorsements, (iii) failing to provide documents in the same language as the primary language used by the purchaser, (iv) providing debt relief services, and (v) initiating certain outbound telephone calls. Second, the court prohibited the release of customer information, including selling or transferring personal customer information. Third, the court issued an asset freeze, forbidding asset transfer or liquidation. Fourth, the court provided for certain duties and obligations of asset holders and third parties who received notice of the court’s order.