All posts by Barbara Nevins Taylor

Why Waste Money On A Credit Repair Company?

September 23rd, 2016

by Barbara Nevins Taylor

Somewhere out there a credit repair company may exist that actually does the job. But all of those I’ve encountered seem ready to charge you fees and add to the debt you already owe. So why waste money on a credit repair company?

The latest example of why credit repair companies may not help at all comes from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It sued a national, California-based, credit repair operation whose tactics seem to come straight from the playbook of other rip-off artists.

The CFP alleges that Prime Market Holdings, also known as Park View Credit, National Credit Advisors, and Credit Experts, broke the law by charging fees in advance, misleading people about what they could actually do, and misleading consumers about the benefits of the service.

Telemarketers from the company called consumers who filled out online loan applications having nothing to do with credit repair. They also contacted people who responded to their web ads for credit repair services, according to a lawsuit filed in United States District Court in central California.

To get help, consumers had to pay a fee for consultation or for a credit report. (You can get a free credit report online three times a year at annualcreditreport.com). But the illegality comes from charging an upfront fee before you actually help someone repair their credit.

Consumers who paid the fee and signed a contract found themselves billed $89 a month for services that didn’t accomplish what the company claimed, according to the complaint.

Many did not know they would face a monthly charge and that the company set a time limit for cancelling the contract.

In addition, Prime Market Holdings could not, as it claimed, remove all negative information from credit reports nor could it raise credit scores by more than 100 points in all cases.

The CFPB asked the court to stop Prime Market Holdings and its companies from doing business and to refund consumers’ money.

We’ve seen this before. The company gets sued and the owners often turn up doing the same thing again using a different corporate name.

WATCH OUT FOR SCAMMERS

While it may have a better ending this time, others out there play the same game that’s ultimately dangerous for consumers. So take care before you respond to a radio ad, an online come-on or any other promise that a company or individual can help you repair your credit for a fee.

Susan Shin from the New Economy Project (once called NEDAP) recorded this warning for us.

NYPD and FBI Looking For Ahmad Khan Rahami

September 19th, 2016

The NYPD and FBI are looking for Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with the Chelsea bombing on Saturday night that injured 29 people. They consider the 28-year-old Afghan-born American citizen armed and dangerous.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on CNN, “We need to get this guy in right away.” Police and the FBI focused the search on Elizabeth, New Jersey, his last known address.

They describe Rahami as 5’6″ and weighing about 200 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair.

If you have information about Rahami call 911 or 800-577-TIPS (8477).

In another development, a bomb exploded near the Elizabeth train station as an FBI bomb squad used a robot to try to disarm it. Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage told the Associated Press that two men spotted a pipe and wires coming out of a backpack.

Law enforcement officials now seem to feel the bombs found in Chelsea, in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, and in Elizabeth, New Jersey share similar elements. They contained small ball bearings “intended to cause maximum damage,” flip phones and tiny Christmas lights to set the bombs off.

Mayor de Blasio on WNYC said, “The public has a crucial role to play here. There is a very extensive effort to find him (Rahami) and bring him in.” He said, “We have not yet formally connected . . .” the New York bombing with the bombings in New Jersey.

The mayor said, “It could be a lone wolf. It could be a group. But right now we have to get this individual in.”

NYPD Takes 5 People Into Custody

September 18th, 2016

The FBI, using a drone, spotted a suspicious vehicle on the Belt Parkway near the Verrazano Bridge and detained five people in connection with the bombing in Chelsea, and the discovery of a second explosive device, on Saturday night.

Agents took the five in for questioning.

State Senator Marty Golden posted the information on his Twitter account and said the stop occurred about 9:30 p.m.

The NYPD continues to ask anyone with information to call: 1800577TIPS

Tense NYC As Police Investigate Bombing in Chelsea

September 18th, 2016

Tense New Yorkers in lower Manhattan heard police sirens blare through the night as the NYPD investigated an explosion that occurred about 8:30 Saturday night in front of 131 West 23rd Street near 6th Avenue. The blast injured 29 people, one seriously.

Shattered windows and flying debris sent people on the street scrambling. A local police patrol responded immediately and the bomb squad followed. Police say they found the device in a toolbox in a dumpster. A short while later, a police search found a pressure cooker attached to wiring and a cellphone in a plastic bag on West 27th Street. The NYPD bomb squad removed the unexploded device using a robot

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the blast was “an intentional act.” But he said there was no known terrorist connection. The FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force and the NYPD continue to investigate.

Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded near the site of a military charity run in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. No injuries occurred because rain delayed the race.

On Twitter, the NYPD asks for anyone who might have seen something or anyone who has information to call the tip line, 800-577-TIPS (8477).

As of about 10 o’clock Sunday morning, the injured from the blast were treated and released from the hospital.

The investigation continues to affect traffic. Police closed off crosstown streets from 14th to 32nd streets as they continue search for evidence or individuals involved.

Questions continue about whether terrorists set the bombs. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called it an “act of terrorism,” but apparently not “international terrorism.”

Banking News, Featured Stories, Money News, News

Wells Fargo $100 Million Fine Reminds Us To Check Statements

September 9th, 2016

Does Wells Fargo owe you money?

Bad practices of a banking giant remind us all to check our banking statements regularly for fishy items that we didn’t authorize. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined Wells Fargo $100 million for secretly opening unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts.

Turns out that Wells Fargo employees, eager to make sales targets and earn bonuses, opened about 1.5 million additional accounts, without approval, for people who already banked with them and didn’t ask for the services. While the employees got their payday, consumers ended up with unauthorized charges on their accounts.

The employees creatively and dishonestly created false email accounts for consumers so that the new accounts would get approved without a hitch.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said, “Because of the severity of these violations, Wells Fargo is paying the largest penalty the CFPB has ever imposed.”

Wells Fargo took full-page newspaper ads to apologize to consumers and said, “We truly regret and take full responsibility for any such instances and have refunded those consumers who incurred fees.”

The bank detailed a list of employee training improvements and customer notification systems that it put into place to try to prevent fraud in the future.

The $100 million dollar fine goes into the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund, which pays victims restitution for financial frauds. But Wells Fargo will also refund, or has already, at least $2.5 million to consumers who found their accounts manipulated. In addition it will pay $35 million to the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency and $50 million to the county and city of Los Angeles, which sued the bank along with CFPB.

Does Wells Fargo owe you money?

If Wells Fargo owes you money, under the settlement, it is required to reach out to you. If you think Wells Fargo owes you money and you do not hear from the bank or receive the money contact the CFPB. (855)-411-2372.

REMINDER

Again you may find it tedious, but this story points out why we need to check our online or paper bank statements every month.

All 55 Plus, Consumer News, Latest News, Medicare, News

When Medicare Scammers Call

June 29th, 2016 2 Comments

Even the smartest among us can fall for scam phone calls that target older people. When Medicare scammers call, they work hard to keep you on the line because they want you to give up your personal information so that they can steal your money.

This may sound overly dramatic, but we’re not nearly as over-the-top as the callers.

Callers try to scare you. They persist and goad you into giving up information that you should not give to strangers.

At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lois Greisman, Associate Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Division of Marketing Practices, said that the government imposter scams were the top complaint of people over 60.

She described how one company, SunBright Ventures, allegedly called people and claimed that they were from Medicare. They told people that they needed to provide their bank account information so that they could get new Medicare cards.

Once the scammers got the information, the FTC says they debited bank accounts remotely even though consumers never authorized the withdrawals. The FTC reached an agreement with the company but no one went to prison.

While the FTC brought 38 cases against companies since 2005, that seems like a drop in the bucket considering the wide swath these scammers cut through our lives.

Many of the scammers operate from other countries and specifically target older adults in the U.S.. That’s why we need to remain vigilant to protect ourselves and those we love and care for.

If you get a call from someone asking for your personal information, hang up the phone. Disconnect. Press END. Do not engage in conversation with them. Don’t even bother trying to get to the bottom of the scam to find out who these people are.

Hang up. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can do it online here. Or you can call 1-877-FTC-Help, 1-800-447-8477.

A Tip

In our house we don’t answer the landline when it rings unless the caller ID says it’s someone we know. Instead we check messages.

The FTC produced this video featuring a retired teacher who explains how the scammers reached her.

Consumer News, Featured Stories, Money News, News

Can’t Get Credit Report Online Because of Authentication

June 29th, 2016

updated September 10, 2017

The demand for authentication, for you to prove it’s really you, may make it impossible to get your credit report online immediately, especially after the Equifax breach.

Your free credit report should be available to you online three times a year from one of the three credit reporting companies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. But many people find that the companies turn down their requests when they ask for reports online. They routinely turn you down if a security alert gets triggered.

And the massive Equifax data hack qualifies as a security trigger. If you want to know what to do about that you can find out here.

In general, we wrote this post after Regina Harper contacted us to complain that TransUnion’s online authentication process frustrated her attempts to file a complaint, dispute an error or put a freeze on her account. She said, “I was finally told that it was because I failed authentication. I don’t believe it. Why?”

Good question.

Why Online Credit Report Authentication?

We reached out to TransUnion to get an answer for Regina and everyone else who encounters the same kind of problem. David Blumberg of TransUnion told ConsumerMojo.com that you should prepare for questions before you sit down to make an online credit report request.

Blumberg said, “When a consumer plans to obtain their credit report online, they should be prepared for authentication questions about their financial history, balances, etc. We encourage consumers to have financial statements and bills available for easy reference in order to be able to answer the authentication questions correctly.”

TransUnion and the two other private companies, often referred to as credit bureaus, operate the same way. So you can take the response and apply it across the board.

TransUnion won’t let you skip the authentication process because they say it helps prevent fraud. Blumberg explained, “Authentication is an important process to protect the privacy of sensitive consumer information when a request is made by a consumer to view his credit report online. TransUnion strives to strike the balance between convenient online access to your own individual information while protecting it from access by potential fraudsters.”

So what do you do when you “fail authentication” during an online request? Blumberg suggests, “If a consumer is unable to authenticate online, they can always request their report via mail or via our toll free phone number.”

TransUnion: 1-877-322-8228

Experian: 1-888 397-3742

Equifax: 1-800-465-7166

This answer may frustrate some and you may have serious complaints about the way the credit bureaus operate. If you do, you can take some comfort in the fact that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to hear your complaints and has taken action against the reporting companies.

Congress, at President Obama’s request, created the CFPB in 2010 as a financial watchdog for consumers and during the past four years the agency has advocated for consumers who have trouble with crediting reporting companies.

You can file a complaint with the CFPB here.

Worried about the Equifax breach read this: What Should I Do About Equifax Data Hack?

NYPD Hugs Gay Pride Parade With Heavy Security

June 26th, 2016

by Barbara Nevins Taylor

The NYPD hugged the 2016 Gay Pride Parade with a heavy blanket of security and cordoned off streets to make sure it could control and watch pedestrian movement. Starting on Saturday afternoon police began manning barricades along the parade route from 36th Street and 5th Avenue to Christopher Street and the West Side Highway.

Marchers and onlookers moved easily in and out of sectioned-off areas and seemed to maintain a relaxed relationship with the police. This year’s Gay Pride Parade seemed more subdued than any I have seen in the past 32 years.

The floats and the formal parade featured grand marshals Syrian refugee Sabhi Nahas, activist Cecilia Chung and 15-year-old reality TV star Jazz Jennings. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane joined the marchers. At a pre-parade party, he said, “When we talk about New York values, our values include inclusion, tolerance, diversity. That’s what we believe in. That’s what we celebrate today.”

All along the parade route, couples and groups of young people stood shoulder-to-shoulder to catch a glimpse of the floats. And the spirit of the parade spilled over into the tightly-controlled streets where onlookers found comfort and celebrated a sense of public solidarity.

22-year-old Brendan came to the Village with three other young men from New Jersey. He said, “In light of Orlando and hate crimes against the LGBT community, to see so many people support gay rights is really important.”

Many gravitated to Sheridan Square near The Stonewall Inn, a symbol of gay rights that President Obama declared a national landmark a few days before the parade. Police barricades kept most people back from the building and out of the park in front of it.

A group of young women stood near Sheridan Square enjoying each other’s company. 23-year Denari, from Hempstead, Long Island told us, “Pride Day means being able to be proud of who you are and be free walking down the street. It’s nice to be visible and not be worried.”

Her friend, 23-year old Melissa from Brooklyn, seemed to speak for many when she said, “It’s great to be visible and queer and have fun and remember our roots and why we are doing this, especially in the wake of Orlando.”

An Immigrant Worries

June 24th, 2016

“I’ve been in this country for sixteen years and people still call me an immigrant,” the cabbie said with a shake of his head and a soft smile.

News about Britain’s vote to leave the E.U. wound Ibrahim up. The radio softly hummed the discussion on the Brian Leherer Show, on WNYC, about why the Brits made the choice and what happens next and it made him talkative, almost eager to reach out.

“Nobody likes immigrants, here or in the U.K. or Europe,” he said without bitterness.

So what do you say to that? New York may be a city of immigrants, but the ugly mood in the country and the world makes it hard to refute the perception that try as you might to belong, you can’t shake “foreignness.” Outsider status will cling to you forever.

What can you say to him or any of the millions of immigrants in the U.S. who work hard, pay taxes, try to raise their families with optimism and yet face a barrage of anti-immigrant sentiment.

Sure we can recall our own immigrant roots. We can tell the stories of earlier discrimination against the Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans, Jews, Latinos and anyone else who appeared different and spoke with an accent. We can share history, and our personal anecdotes. But it all seems hollow in the face of the current tide of anger against immigrants.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s failure to support President Obama’s executive order that would have granted citizenship to four million immigrants, combined with the British vote, makes it hard to look on the sunny side. Those of us who want to embrace progress and change and generally feel optimistic about the future feel unnerved by the verbal stones thrown at immigrants here and abroad.

Even President Obama seemed dispirited at his brief news conference after the Supreme Court announcement. Although he did point out that Americans usually come around to the right way of thinking.

We can only hope that happens sooner than later. In the meantime, people like Ibrahim worry.

As a teenager in Guinea, in West Africa, he wanted more than the poverty that surrounded him. He applied for a U.S. visa lottery program and won. It allowed him to enter the U.S. legally and eventually gain citizenship. When he talked about his dream and reasons for coming to the U.S., I heard the echo of my grandparents’ dreams and those of millions of others.

“I came here for education, the chance to make money and opportunity. But I have three things against me. I’m an immigrant. My color is against me and I’m a Muslim. Maybe for my kids it will be different,” he said.

And yet he worries about his children’s place in the universe. His nine-yearold son and seven-year-old daughter were born in the Bronx. On a recent visit to Guinea, his son both shocked and pleased him when he kept asking, “When are we going on home?”

“My kids do great here,” Ibrahim said. “But if something bad happens, I can always go back even though I don’t want to. They can not. This is their home.”

Ibrahim did not want us to take a photo or video.

We Mourn The Orlando Victims

June 12th, 2016

We mourn the Orlando victims and try to make sense of the senseless. We stand with President Obama and believe the people of the United States need to make serious decisions about the ease with which we sell and buy guns in this country.

In New York City police tightened security around gay landmarks including the The Stone Wall Inn on Christopher Street. We found a somber crowd and a subdued press corp as police in riot gear stood by.

Curb On Payday Lending

June 2nd, 2016

by Barbara Nevins Taylor

Borrowing money when you need it should not lead to an endless downward spiral of debt. That’s why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB) proposed a new rule that would limit high fees, require lenders to make sure that borrowers can repay without borrowing again to pay off the original loan, and put a curb on payday lending.

About 16,000 payday lending stores and an unknown number of online lenders offer short-term loans, often for two weeks, at interest rates as high as 390 percent. The loan terms make the original loan difficult to repay and one in four loans lead to a new loan aimed at repaying the first one.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray, in a speech at a hearing in Kansas City, Missouri, said, “The very economics of the payday lending business model depend on a substantial percentage of borrowers being unable to repay the loan and borrowing again and again at high interest rates, incurring repeated fees as they go along.”

People who borrow and use their cars as collateral face the same kind of loan schemes that keep many in debt and unable to get a handle on their finances.

The CFPB proposal would require lenders to make sure that borrowers can repay the full loan, including the interest, without borrowing again. After the loan is made and the borrower can’t repay the original debt, the lender would only be allowed to make two extensions and the consumer would have to repay one-third of the original principle.

Those offering installment loans would have a different braking system on what they offer. The CFPB says they have to have a two-year limit and lenders could not charge more than a total interest rate of 36 percent and limit the cost of origination fees.

The new rule would also require lenders to notify borrowers that they planned to withdraw money from their accounts for payments. Right now, lenders often dip into a person’s bank account to take money that they say the consumer owes.

The CFPB put the new rule out there for consumers and the lending industry to study and comment on. It will go into effect after a review period and does not require congressional action.

Featured Stories, Latest News, Medicare, News

Credit Reporting Companies Frustrate Consumers

May 24th, 2016

If you find yourself frustrated trying to straighten out mistakes on your credit report, you have a lot of company. Credit reporting companies continue to generate complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The CFPB’s latest monthly report found that 77 percent of consumer complaints involve difficulty removing incorrect information from credit reports.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray said, “Credit reports are the foundation of consumers’ financial lives. We will continue to work to ensure that credit report disputes are investigated, errors are fixed, and consumers are treated fairly.”

What’s happening now seems far from fair. People complain that debts appear that have already been paid, or that they don’t owe debts that appear on credit reports compiled by the three big credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They say that when they try to straighten things out, customer service representatives are unhelpful.

In addition, smaller specialty companies that provide background reports and screening for employment and information to property owners about renters also make it difficult for consumers to fix or erase errors.

WHAT’S ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?

Your credit report is a history of your financial life. It has your bill paying history. It lists and shows:
The credit cards you have, and your payment rate.
The loans you have, or had, and your loan payment history.
Your mortgage and your mortgage payments.
Student loans you have or had, and the way you repay them.
Judgments or liens against you.
Alimony or child support payments and how you pay.
Money you may owe a doctor or healthcare provider.
Money you may owe a hospital.
Your outstanding parking ticket fines.
Whether you’ve been sued.
Whether you’ve been arrested.

The list will include all of your debts and financial activity and anything to do with your money.

It is unlikely to include local retailers, gasoline credit card companies and landlords with just one or two properties.

Inaccurate Information

If there is a mistake, you must dispute it. You do this by sending letters with proof — your cancelled checks, credit card receipts or other proof that you have paid a bill.

Experian-1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com

TransUnion-1-800-916-8800 www.transunion.com

Equifax-1-800-685-1111 www.equifax.com

The Federal Trade Commission created a sample letter.

Or, you can use our version:

SAMPLE LETTER TO CREDIT BUREAU

Date

Your Name

Your Address,

City, State, Zip Code

Complaint Department

Name of Company

Address

City, State, Zip Code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am disputing the following information in my file. I have circled the items I dispute on the attached copy of the form that I received. This item (s) (List the item or items you’re disputing and the name of the source such as creditors or tax court and identify the type of account- credit card or judgment, etc.) is inaccurate or incomplete. (Describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why).

I am requesting that the item be removed to correct the information.

Enclosed are copies of my documentation that support my position. (Describe what you enclose: receipts, payment stubs, court records, etc.)

Please reinvestigate this matter (or these matters), and correct or delete the information as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Your Name Enclosures: List all the documents that you are enclosing. Do not send originals.

Send copies and keep a copy of your letter.

Send the same letter to the creditor with the same documentation.

Send both by certified mail and keep your receipt.

CREDIT REPORTING COMPANIES MUST INVESTIGATE

Credit reporting companies must investigate within 30 days of receiving your letter. They also must send your dispute and your information to the company or organization involved.

That company is required to investigate and report back to the credit bureau.

If they find that you are right, the information must be corrected on your credit reports by all three reporting companies.

The credit reporting companies must give you the results in writing and a free copy of your updated credit report.

If a company refuses to correct what you claim is an error, you can request that credit reporting bureau keep a copy of your statement in your file.

Because of the persistent problems getting credit report errors straightened out, the CFPB asks that you file a complaint with them if you don’t get what you need: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Learn To Tell Stories of Immigration

May 16th, 2016

For four weeks in June CCNY Professor Campbell Dalglish and I will teach a course called “Stories of Immigration” at The City College of New York. This is a collaboration with the National Park Service at Ellis Island and will give students a chance to visit the island, learn from the archivists and create stories of their own in any format for any platform.

When we talk about stories of immigration, many forget that food, culture, fashion, sports, politics, personal stories and more define the immigration experience. We hope students will discover unique stories that go beyond what we usually hear about immigration.

We have a few places left for students from any college, or those who just want to take the course. It runs Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The course begins June 6, 2016.

It is a production class, so students can use much of the time to report, write, edit and produce stories. We encourage students to create stories for video, print, or posts for digital, audio for radio or podcasts and photography.

If you have any questions please let me know. You can register here: https://home.cunyfirst.cuny.edu/oam/Portal_Login1.html

The course number for undergrads is MCA 31101 and for grad students it is B9803.

Conversation With An IRS Phone Scammer

May 13th, 2016

Linda Davis worried when she heard the message that an IRS agent called. She phoned back immediately. “It had me so nervous. I was really shaken.”

A man with a South Asian accent told her she owed the IRS money and if she didn’t pay she would go to jail. “I was crying hysterically,” she told us. “I said, ‘I don’t understand this. I’m not behind in anything.’ He told me, ‘You either pay now or you go to jail. A marshal will come to your house and you’ll spent at least ten days in jail.'”

A few minutes after Linda told me her story about the obvious fake call, my husband got a call on his cellphone from 802-296-1308, a number in Vermont, and I returned the call. A man with a South Asian accent gave me roughly the same spiel as Linda received. It sounded like he worked in a call center. I had a lot of voices in the background that you may also hear if you listen to the conversation I recorded with the scammer. You’ll hear that he demands money and threatens to have me arrested. There is an expletive (his) at the end, so beware.

The IRS continues to issue alerts about scam calls that seem to have reached epidemic proportion.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said, “Taxpayers across the nation face a deluge of these aggressive phone scams. Don’t be fooled by callers pretending to be from the IRS in an attempt to steal your money. We continue to say if you are surprised to be hearing from us, then you’re not hearing from us.”

The calls that Linda and my husband received fit the pattern and here’s what the IRS says you should do if you receive a call like this:

The IRS says:

1. It will never call to demand immediate payment.

2. If you owe money, it will send a bill.

3. It will never demand money without giving you a chance to appeal or challenge the agency.

4. It will never require you to use a specific payment method like a pre-paid card.

5. It will never ask for credit card, or debit information on the phone.

6. It will never threaten to bring local police or other law enforcement agents to have you arrested.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE A CALL FROM THE “IRS.”

If you get a call from a so-called IRS agent, hang up.

Don’t give out any information.

Report the call and the number if you have it to the IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting Page, or call 1-800-366-4484.

You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

TARGETING OLDER PEOPLE

Beware also, because scammers now use the same pattern to demand money for so-called unpaid debts and they target older people. Our friend Renata received a call from a man who demanded her Social Security number. “He scared me to death,” she said. But she smartly recorded the call and shared the information with law enforcement. She also shared the call with us.

Consumer News, Featured Stories, News, Scam News

BlueHippo Funding Finally Get What It Deserves

May 3rd, 2016

It often takes law enforcement a long time to bring the hammer down on scammers. Recently, a federal judge handed out $14 million penalty to BlueHippo Funding and its former C.E.O. I’ve been tracking this company since the mid 2000’s.

BlueHippo Funding came on our radar at what was then My9 News. Many in our urban audience struggled to get credit, so when BlueHippo, in about 2003, began advertising on the Internet and TV, our station included, that anyone could buy a computer and other electronic gear without a credit check, it seemed heaven sent.

Well, like all these too-good-to-be-true offers, people quickly found out there was a big catch. We began getting calls from viewers. They complained about hidden finance charges. They said computers and flat screen TVs that they paid hundreds of dollars for never arrived, and that the customer service call center was impossible to navigate. BlueHippo didn’t make the computers or other electronics that the company sold. It bought them from third parties if and when it fulfilled orders.

Armed with a stack of complaints, photographer Paul Tsakos and I drove down to a suburban office building in Baltimore, Maryland, and made an unannounced visit with our camera to the company headquarters.

Joe Rensin, the super confident company C.E.O., and his lawyer, met with us in their conference room and defended Blue Hippo’s practices. Rensin insisted that his company provided a needed service for underserved consumers. He dismissed the complaints as misunderstandings and promised to make good on a few of the cases that we pointed out to him.

We reported the story and although we may have helped a few consumers, I felt like a mosquito that gets swatted away by a big hand.

In 2008 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued BlueHippo Funding and BlueHippo Capital claiming it violated the Truth In Lending Law and made phony claims to thousands of consumers, many of whom paid for but never received computers.

In a court supervised settlement BlueHippo agreed to pay $3.5 million, and promised to stop its questionable financing scheme. But the FTC found the company didn’t keep its promise. In 2009, The FTC charged BlueHippo with violating the settlement. It alleged that “…between April and December of 2008, they flouted the 2008 order by contracting with thousands of consumers to finance new computers, but in most instances failing to provide the computers and failing to disclose key aspects of their refund policy.”

Judge Paul A. Crotty found the company in contempt and said it violated the deal. In a ruling he wrote that between April 10, 2008, and July 24, 2009, “55,892 consumers paid BlueHippo $14,062,627.51 in connection with orders for computers and received no merchandise from BlueHippo”.

The judge ordered Rensin to hand over $8 million to the FTC for refunds to consumers. BlueHippo appealed the contempt ruling and filed for bankruptcy. Joe Rensin left the company and in his appeals of the contempt charge complained that his legal due process was violated.

The case dragged on until April 19, 2016. Judge Crotty issued an order declaring that Rensin pay $8 million in restitution to consumers within seven days and gave him time over the next year to pay the additional money, which would bring the payback up to almost $14 million.

So no one goes to prison. But it looks like consumers will get some money back.