Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

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Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the State of Arizona announced a joint action against Coulter Motor Company, an Arizona-based motor vehicle dealership, and its former general manager, for allegedly engaging in deceptive pricing practices and discriminatory financing treatment of Latino consumers. The complaint alleges violations of the FTC Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act. The defendants have agreed to a $2.6 million settlement, most of which will be used to provide refunds to affected consumers.

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration launched a comprehensive initiative aimed at addressing what it describes as everyday hassles that waste Americans’ time and money. This new government-wide effort, called “Time Is Money,” seeks to regulate various business practices that the administration claims add unnecessary burdens to consumers’ lives. The initiative includes actions from multiple federal agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it has filed proposed orders against the owners and operators of Financial Education Services (FES), a credit repair operation accused of running a pyramid scheme and violating the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). The proposed orders call for permanent bans and substantial monetary penalties for the defendants.

On August 7, the U.S. Department of Treasury hosted a virtual briefing to discuss the steps that the Biden-Harris administration is taking to address perceived unfair and deceptive practices in the consumer solar energy industry. Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo, along with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, announced a new interagency consumer solar industry initiative directed at both sales and financing of residential systems. Each made statements about the unique effort to root out anti-competitive and sometimes-fraudulent activity by a handful of “bad actors” who are taking advantage of the burgeoning industry. The presenters also noted that they will be coordinating with state attorneys general (AG) and state financial regulators.

On May 28, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its annual report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) detailing enforcement and educational activities undertaken in 2023. The report pertains to actions under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z, the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) and Regulation M, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E. Specifically, the report highlights FTC initiatives in areas such as automobile financing and leasing, electronic fund transfers, so-called junk fees, payday lending, and negative options.

On March 7, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a final rule updating recordkeeping requirements and extending the protections against misrepresentations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to businesses (Final Rule). It also announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to extend the TSR’s coverage to inbound telemarketing calls involving technical support services. These actions are part of the FTC’s current review of the TSR, which includes the Do Not Call (DNC) Registry rules and provisions banning nearly all telemarketing robocalls to consumers.

As discussed here, earlier this week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) finalized its credit card late fee rule (Final Rule). The Final Rule sets a safe harbor amount for late fees at $8 and eliminates the annual inflation adjustments to that safe harbor amount, for larger card issuers. The timing of the Final Rule’s announcement, just days before the State of Union address, did not go unnoticed. President Biden highlighted this development in his speech, emphasizing his administration’s commitment to eliminating so-called hidden fees.

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking public comment on its proposal to amend the Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses (Impersonation Rule or Rule), that is being finalized by the FTC today, to add a prohibition on the impersonation of individuals. The amendment would also extend liability for violations of the Impersonation Rule to parties who provide goods and services with knowledge or reason to know that those goods or services will be used in illegal impersonations. The FTC stated the impetus for the amendment is the surging number of complaints it has received around impersonation fraud, including “deepfakes” generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

On February 13, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a blog post warning companies that it could be deemed an unfair or deceptive practice for a company to adopt more permissive data practices and to only inform consumers of such changes through retroactive amendments to its terms of service or privacy policy.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong filed suit against auto dealer Manchester City Nissan (Manchester City), its owner, and several employees for allegedly deceiving consumers about the price of certified used cars, add-ons, and government fees. Filed January 4, the lawsuit was brought under the FTC Act and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.