LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Monster Loans, Lend Tech and others are facing allegations by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection of illegally obtaining consumer reports and marketing false student loan debt-relief services.
The CFPB filed a complaint Jan. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Chou Team Realty, doing business as Monster Loans; Lend Tech Loans Inc. and others alleging violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act.
The CFPB alleges that between 2015 and 2019, Monster Loans, a mortgage company and Lend Tech illegally obtained consumer reports from Experian and gave those reports to other companies to market student loan debt-relief services. They allege the defendants falsely represented to consumers they would provide lower interest rates, improve credit scores and other false claims. The suit states the defendants also illegally charged and collected fees.
The plaintiff seeks to permanently enjoin the defendants from advertising and marketing any form of debt-relief service, redress to consumers, damages and disgorgement of ill-gotten funds. It is represented by Leanna E. Hartmann of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 8:20-CV-00043