WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced May 23 that his Office of Consumer Protection has settled with Burlington Financial Group LLC (Burlington) and its owner and manager, Sang Yi, for allegations of falsely promising to reduce consumer debt.
“Many district residents are burdened by onerous debt from credit cards and other sources, and they are desperate for any solution that might reduce their payments,” Racine said. “Burlington took advantage of consumers like these by claiming it could help in ways it couldn’t and charging for services that any consumer can obtain without charge.”
According to allegations, the defendants charged consumers for services those consumers could procure for free elsewhere. Racine’s office said one consumer ended up paying Burlington $30,089.70 in fees.
Burlington will pay $40,000 in civil penalties, stop the alleged misconduct, and refund $51,254 to affected consumers.
“I want to thank the D.C. Bar Advice and Referral Clinic, through which this company came to our attention, and the attorneys in our Office of Consumer Protection who worked hard to gain this judgment,” Racine said. “In particular, my thanks to assistant attorney general Wendy Weinberg and Office of Consumer Protection director Phil Ziperman and deputy director Jimmy Rock for their excellent work on this case.”