Suthers
DENVER (Legal Newsline) - Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced on Wednesday that he has filed charges against a Westminster-based debt repair company for allegedly defrauding consumers through infomercials and ads.
Real Talk Network and its corporate officers, David Allen Burke and Erik Sale, are accused of violating the state's consumer credit laws by engaging in deceptive trade practices.
"The down economy has left many consumers looking for a way to get out of debt," Suthers said.
"The defendants in this case are suspected of using deceptive sales pitches to bilk consumers out of thousands of dollars for services they ultimately never received. At its core, this scam preyed on consumers' desires for a silver bullet to get out of debt."
According to the lawsuit, Real Talk Network aired infomercials on radio stations in Colorado and California, claiming that consumers could get out of debt quickly and even pay off their mortgages in fewer than 10 years by following the process the infomercial was selling.
The company also allegedly advertised a 100 percent success rate for participants and advised people to attend one of its three-hour seminars to learn more.
"Free" seminars often concluded with high pressure sales tactics to have consumers pay anywhere from $1,497-$3,497 for the services, the complaint alleges. Those that did sign up have complained that they received little to no assistance and the special relationship with banks that the company was supposed to have didn't exist.
The lawsuit also claims Burke misrepresented his credentials - having filed for bankruptcy in both 2000 and 2007 - and misled consumers into believing that he was a graduate of the University of Southern California.