DeWine
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit on Monday against two Florida telemarketers and their principals for allegedly violating Ohio's consumer laws and calling Ohio consumers on the National Do Not Call Registry.
FBK Products LLC, FBK Holdings LLC and principals Marc Rona, Steven Kranz and Gary Kranz allegedly used telemarketing to sell service contracts for household goods and septic system maintenance products. The defendants allegedly repeatedly called consumers who were on the registry and continued to call after the consumers asked them to not call back.
"When consumers sign up for the Do Not Call Registry, they expect most telemarketing calls to stop," DeWine said. "But in this case, consumers kept receiving calls even after they told the business to stop calling. It's unacceptable, and we will continue to go after telemarketers that take advantage of Ohio families."
More than 100 consumers in Ohio filed complaints about FBK with the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel and DeWine's office. Most of the complaints were about do not call violations.
DeWine's lawsuit alleges that the defendants violated Ohio's Telephone Solicitations Sales Act and Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act. The allegations include failure to register as a telephone solicitor in Ohio and failure to comply with do not call laws. DeWine is seeking civil penalties, injunctive relief and consumers restitution.