It was announced a few months ago that the FTC would be holding a workshop to examine best practices in the Debt Settlement industry and now it is just a week away. The FTC has been becoming more and more involved as the vertical as begun to expand more and more every month and year.
There are very important factors that companies must comply with or face possible FTC action. The major issue, of course is that companies are mirepresenting the services that can be provided by the debt settlement companies. The major problems according to TASC is when landing pages, advertisements and websites include:
- Claims they can immediately stop creditor calls or that will stop them at all.
- Claims lower monthly payments.
- mentions that they will no longer have to pay creditors.
- Promises to reduce or eliminate the debt.
- Promises to consolidate debt
- Claims that the consumer will be alright if they stop paying the creditors and also don’t disclose that they may be sued if they discontinue payments.
The FTC is going to be taking quick action on companies that use the types of claims in the advertising. Its important that lead buyers be very aware of what type of marketing is being used by their lead providers and if a provider is not willing to share their creative you may want to think twice about working with the company. It is much better to pay for leads that are marketed correctly then settle for cheap leads marketed incorrectly and risk paying a fine.
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