A marketer who falsely advertised auto loans as pre-approved to low-income, “credit-challenged” consumers has reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC alleged that Direct Marketing Associates Corp. and its president and owner, John M. Rainey, Jr. also improperly obtained names of consumers from a credit reporting agency.
Rainey’s company prepared sales solicitations for automobile dealers “telling consumers that a specific finance company would lend them money to buy a car,” but firms in the ads lacked business licenses and didn’t actually make any loans, the FTC alleged.
“The marketing company obtained lists of consumers from a credit reporting agency by falsely representing that the lists would be used to make prescreened firm offers of credit to consumers,” the FTC said.
The settlement order bars Direct Marketing Associates and Rainey from marketing pre-approved offers, an extension of credit or a financing deal “unless the defendants know that a lender can make good on the offer for all eligible customers.”
The order also prohibits Rainey from obtaining credit reports from consumer reporting agencies without following specific rules under Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The order imposes a $157,000 civil penalty that is suspended, unless Rainey is found to have misrepresented his inability to pay the fine.
