SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In addition to helping consumers confront credit reporting problems directly through its CreditRepair.com website, Progrexion also provides a variety of support services to Lexington Law Firm, such as managing the firm’s advertising activities and technology platform.
On August 23, 2023, the CFPB settled its lawsuit with all Progrexion entities. The investigation and lawsuit traces its origins back to 2013.
Under the settlement, Progrexion will not appeal a March 10, 2023, Utah District Court order that adopted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) view of the Telemarketing Sales Rule’s (TSR) advance fee provision. The settlement serves as an important notice from the CFPB to the credit repair industry, and its service providers, of the standards for legally compliant billing practices. Specifically:
- Credit repair organizations that market or sell their services over the phone, irrespective of whether they promise a specific result to consumers, must follow the TSR, including the advance fee provision. They may not request or receive payment of any fee for credit repair services until
- the time frame in which they have represented all of the goods or services will be provided to that person has expired; and
- they have provided the person with documentation in the form of a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency demonstrating that the promised results have been achieved, such report having been issued more than six months after the results were achieved.
- And no business may substantially assist a credit repair organization that it knows or consciously avoids knowing is engaged in an act or practice that violates the TSR, including by doing such things as providing back-office support, technical know-how, lead generation, or data that supports their non-complaint credit repair practices or billing.
As awareness of the CFPB’s notice grows, Chad Wallace, Progrexion’s CEO, expects to see credit repair organizations cease telemarketing or adopt compliant billing practices. Following the March 10, 2023, ruling in Utah, Progrexion ended all telemarketing activities. Yet, a quick internet search shows credit repair organizations and credit repair review sites continued use of phone numbers in their marketing efforts to consumers with no change in billing practice, a clear TSR violation in plain sight.
“Maybe they haven’t read the definition of telemarketing in the TSR--a plan, program, or campaign which is conducted to induce the purchase of goods or services or a charitable contribution, by use of one or more telephones and which involves more than one interstate telephone call. Maybe they don’t realize that you can’t fix a TSR violation by having a consumer sign a contract online after marketing or selling your service by phone.”
Such activity does not bode well for the industry or anyone who provides substantial assistance to those who violate the TSR. Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, knowing violations have a penalty of up to one million dollars a day.
For its part, Progrexion is committed to following the consumer protection principles and industry warnings reflected in the settlement and looks forward to all credit repair organizations examining their own business operations and instituting billing practices consistent with the standards announced by the CFPB.
About Progrexion
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Progrexion sets the standard for quality customer service and operating efficiencies within our field. Our patent-pending technologies demonstrate a great capacity for creativity and innovation within the consumer advocacy market space. Progrexion has literally reinvented the credit repair enterprise. As advocates for fair, accurate, and relevant credit reporting for all American consumers, our employees have come to understand that they hold the keys to bettering the lives of hundreds of thousands of clients each year. They operate the technology and support services that enable consumers to repair their credit and realize their financial dreams.
