FTC Obtains Settlement Regarding Marketing of Mortgage Refinancing Services to Servicemembers; Announces First Settlements in "Cardholder Services" Robocalls Sweep

FTC Enforcement Mortgage Advertising

On June 27, the FTC announced that a mortgage broker will pay a $7.5 million civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and Mortgage Acts and Practices – Advertising Rule (MAP Rule). The broker allegedly violated the TSR by calling more than 5.4 million telephone numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry to offer home loan refinancing services to current and former U.S. military consumers and by failing remove consumers from its call list upon demand. The broker also allegedly violated the MAP Rule by misleading consumers about its affiliation with the Department of Veterans Affairs and leading consumers to believe that it was offering low interest, fixed rate mortgages with no costs, when in reality it was offering adjustable rate mortgages with closing costs. In the same announcement, the FTC stated that it had obtained the first settlements in cases related to a 2012 sweep of telemarketers alleged to have placed automated calls to consumers to make deceptive “no-risk” offers to substantially reduce the consumers’ credit card interest rates in exchange for an upfront fee. According to the FTC, the telemarketers claimed to be calling from the consumers’ credit card company, or otherwise used the generic “Cardholder Services” title to suggest a relationship with a bank or credit card company.