On September 24, the CFPB urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to affirm a district court judgment of more than $43 million against a defunct student-loan debt-relief telemarketer and its operator, arguing that the operator’s arguments “border on frivolous.” As previously covered by InfoBytes, in September 2025, the operator and the company appealed the district court’s final judgment. According to the CFPB’s brief, the company solicited consumers nationwide through telemarketing, radio, television, and online advertising from 2014 through at least 2019, promising to reduce or eliminate student loan payments, cut payments in half, and improve credit scores but admitted the company had no basis for its claims and did not track whether its services achieved the promised results. The CFPB argued that the operator violated the TSR’s prohibitions on misrepresenting material aspects of debt-relief services and charging advance fees, as well as the CFPA’s prohibition on deceptive acts or practices. The district court granted summary judgment against the operator and entered a default judgment against the company.

In response to the appeal, the CFPB argued that the operator lacked standing to challenge the default judgment entered against the company because he disclaimed any ownership or control over the company, and that his motion to vacate was untimely. The CFPB also defended the monetary remedies in the judgment, arguing that the district court properly awarded restitution based on the net amount consumers paid, rather than equitable restitution limited to the defendant’s profits, and civil money penalties that reflected the statutory consequences for the operator’s 6,046 violations.