Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

As Fall continues, the FTC reflects on 2024, reaches a proposed settlement with H&R Block, and continues to enforce consumer protection laws in the loan and telemarketing sectors. All this, and more, after the jump.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Bureau of Consumer Protection, Deceptive/Misleading Conduct, Finance, Advertising and Marketing, Online Advertising and Marketing, Advertising and Marketing Basics

  • Following the commencement of trial in an FTC lawsuit, H&R Block and the FTC have agreed to a proposed settlement that includes $7 Million in consumer redress and changes to H&R Block’s business practices. In February 2024, the FTC filed an administrative complaint against H&R Block. The complaint alleged that H&R Block deceptively advertised its do-it-yourself tax products and used unlawful practices to prevent consumers from downgrading to less expensive products. Under the proposed settlement, H&R Block must stop advertising its do-it-yourself services as free, making customers start their filings over when they downgrade products, and requiring consumers to contact customer service to downgrade products.

Friday, November 15, 2024

Bureau of Consumer Protection, Credit & Loan Offers, Finance, Deceptive/Misleading Conduct, Credit & Finance, Credit and Loans, Small Business

  • The FTC brought an action against Seek Capital and its founder and CEO, Roy Ferman, for violations of the Telemarketing Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule, and Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. The FTC’s Complaint alleges that Seek promises clients business loans and business lines of credit, but does not follow through — instead opening personal credit cards in the clients’ names without their permission. The Complaint also alleges that Seek uses deceptive and unfair practices like misleading advertisements, high pressure sales tactics, hefty termination fees, and fake online ratings to attract and maintain clients. The FTC says that Seek’s actions have cost small business owners more than $37 Million.

Bureau of Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection, Advertising and Marketing, Do Not Call, Telemarketing

  • On November 15, 2024, the FTC released the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2024. The data book, now in its 16th year of publication, contains the most recent fiscal year data available regarding robocall complaints, the types of calls consumers reported to the FTC, and a state-by-state analysis of unwanted call data.

Addressing illegal telemarketing has been a priority of the current Commission. In 2023, the FTC announced Operation Stop Scam Calls, a largescale crackdown on illegal telemarketing. This year, the agency passed several rules expanding the scope of the Telemarketing Sales Rule to cover business-to-business and AI-enabled scam calls. It also passed the Government and Business Impersonation rule, which enhanced the agency’s ability to compensate consumers harmed by illegal telemarketing.

FTC Operations, Office of the Executive Director, Financial Management Office, Office of the Secretary, Government

  • On November 15, 2024, the FTC issued its Fiscal Year 2024 Agency Financial Report. Practitioners may be interested in the report’s Performance Highlights section, which outlines the agency’s goals and many of the agency’s recent actions.