Payday Support Center Settlement Checks Mailed, FTC Says

The Federal Trade Commission says it’s issuing refund checks to hundreds of consumers who lost money to Payday Support Center.

According to an FTC press release issued Wednesday, Payday Support Center ran a scheme that targeted persons with outstanding payday loans, under the guise of providing a debt relief service.

The payments to be issued are the result of an FTC enforcement action against Payday Support Center and will provide some relief to individuals affected by the scheme.

The enforcement action began in February 2015, when the FTC filed a complaint in federal court against Payday Support Center under its new name, PSC Administrative LLC.

Other defendants in the action included managing member Jared Irby and corporate officer Richard Hughes, as well as Coastal Acquisitions LLC, which did business under the names Infinity Client Solutions and iNfinity Collect LLC.

The FTC alleged that since August 2012, Payday Support Center and the other defendants used a promotional campaign to target persons with multiple short-term, high-interest loans, known as payday loans.

According to this Payday Support Center lawsuit, the defendants allegedly offered to renegotiate these debtors’ loans in a way that would lower their payments. Participating debtors were to stop paying their lenders directly and instead make payments to Payday Support Center and the other defendants.

The defendants allegedly promised debtors that after four to six months, their debts would be paid off or otherwise eliminated.

But according to the FTC, Payday Support Center did little or nothing to help these debtors, other than sending their creditors a form letter asking for validation of the debts.

“In numerous instances, Defendants’ actions have failed to result in any reduction or elimination of the payday loans consumers enrolled in Defendants’ program,” the FTC alleged.

“Defendants have collected a fee at enrollment and, thereafter, bi-weekly through the pendency of the program. In numerous instances, consumers discovered that none of the payments made through the program went towards paying off their loans.”

In September 2016, the FTC announced it had reached a settlement in this Payday Support Center lawsuit.

Under terms of the settlement, the defendants have been banned from all debt relief-related activities. They are prohibited from making further representations about financial services and from improperly handling consumers’ personal information.

The settlement also imposes a $23.7 million judgment against the defendants, which will be partially suspended once they make partial payments.

To administer settlement payments to affected consumers, the FTC says it will issue 561 refund checks totaling over $148,000. On average, affected persons will receive a payment of $264. The FTC encourages recipients to deposit their checks within 60 days.

Administration of settlement payments will be handled by Rust Consulting Inc. The FTC says questions about payments can be directed to Rust Consulting at 1-888-279-4212. Consumers are reminded that the FTC never requires consumers to disclose account information or pay any money to cash their refund checks.

The Payday Support Center Debt Relief Scheme Lawsuit is Federal Trade Commission v. PSC Administrative LLC, et al., Case No. 1:15-cv-00084, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.