Consumer Alert
Online lending company broke the law. FTC counts the ways.
If you need to borrow money to consolidate credit card debt, make home or auto repairs, or pay other unexpected bills, a personal installment loan may be an option.
Most personal loans are unsecured, meaning they don’t require collateral like a house or car, and typically have higher interest rates than secured loans.
Paying a higher interest rate is one thing, but when it came to one online lending company, customers were caught off guard by what the FTC says were lies and illegal conduct.
Today, the FTC announced a settlement with Avant, LLC, a company offering personal loans online. According to the FTC, Avant deceived customers in a bunch of ways about what and how they were supposed to pay. For example, the FTC alleges that Avant:
- advertised that it would take payments by credit or debit cards when, in many cases, it wouldn't;
- illegally required customers to agree to automatic payments from their bank accounts;
- deceived customers about the amount needed to pay off their loans;
- collected — or tried to collect — more money from people who paid the quoted payoff amount; and
- made unauthorized charges on customers’ bank accounts.
The settlement bars Avant from engaging in similar conduct and requires it to pay $3.85 million to thousands of customers harmed by its loan servicing practices.
If you’re shopping for an online loan, do some research, especially if you’re not familiar with the company. Type the lender’s name into your favorite search engine with terms like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” If you find bad reviews, you’ll have to decide if the offer is worth the risk. After all, it’s only a good deal if the loan and servicing experience lives up to the written promises.
If you think a company has violated the law, tell the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.
For more information, check out our Credit and Loans page.
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In reply to Glad to see people like this by Metalneck
The final settlement order requires the company to pay $3.85 million to thousands of customers harmed by its loan servicing practices.
In reply to Anyone getting any jail time? by azure
Avant, LLC agreed to settle charges with the FTC. The final order imposes a judgment of $3.85 million, which will be returned to consumers who were harmed by Avant’s unlawful practices.
Please read the press release for more information about the terms of the settlement order and what Avant is prohibited from doing.
In reply to I applied for a loan online by Booty
In reply to For FTC by Narek388
Right now, we know that the FTC will use the defendants’ business records to identify people who were affected.You don’t need to contact the FTC to file a claim or ask for repayment.
In reply to For FTC by Narek388
The FTC will use the defendants’ business records to identify people who were affected.You don’t need to contact the FTC to file a claim or ask for repayment.
In reply to How often are new comments or by Narek388
You can go to the Avant case page to view all related legal documents. On May 17, 2019, the court signed an Order entering judgement in favor of the FTC for $3.85M.
The $3.85M will be returned to consumers who were harmed by Avant’s unlawful practices. The FTC plans to use the defendants’ business records to identify people who were affected.You don’t need to contact the FTC to file a claim or ask for repayment.