FTC Settlement Orders Ban More Than A Dozen Marketers from Selling Mortgage Relief Services; Repeat Offender Ordered to Pay $11.4 Million for Contempt

FTC Settlement Orders Ban More Than A Dozen Marketers from Selling Mortgage Relief Services; Repeat Offender Ordered to Pay $11.4 Million for Contempt

A U.S. district court has ordered newly named defendants to stop making deceptive claims that they are affiliated with free federal government programs, such as Making Home Affordable.

On May 14, 2009, the FTC charged that Internet search ads were diverting homeowners from free counseling available through government-endorsed www.makinghomeaffordable.gov to Web sites that marketed loan modification services for a fee. The defendants’ identities were then unknown, and the district court on May 15, 2009, entered a temporary restraining order that barred the deceptive practices and authorized the FTC to identify the unknown defendants.

The Commission has now identified several of the previously unknown parties in this case, and amended the complaint accordingly. The amended complaint names the following advertisers that placed deceptive online ads for the Making Home Affordable program: 1) Jeffrey Altmire, 2) Sean Cantkier, 3) Michael Haller; 4) Lisa Roye, 5) Scot Lady, 6) Alan LeStourgeon, 7) Kean Lee Lim, Greg Rivera, and 9) Neil Sperry. At the FTC’s request, following a preliminary injunction hearing on June 25, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered orders barring eight of the defendants – four of whom agreed to the orders – from engaging in the allegedly illegal conduct.

In May 2009, the FTC charged the defendants with violating a 2001 order that banned D’Antonio from telemarketing and misleading consumers about goods or services. The FTC obtained the 2001 order against D’Antonio and his former company, Data Medical Capital Inc., for operating a work-at-home medical billing opportunity scheme. D’Antonio also pleaded guilty to mail fraud for his involvement in that scam and served almost three years in prison. In addition to the financial sanctions against D’Antonio and the three companies, the court barred him from making misleading statements about refunds, exchanges, and total costs or quantity. The FTC has collected more than $1 million from the defendants’ available assets thus far, and will refer the remainder of the $11.4 million judgment to the Department of the Treasury for collection. The FTC has set up a consumer information line at 1-888-398-8205.