The CFPB, along with the Attorneys General of North Carolina and Virginia, sued Freedom Stores and its affiliates for allegedly “targeting North Carolina and Virginia military consumers with unfair business practices including illegal debt collection tactics.” Freedom Stores and its affiliates agreed to refund more than $2.5 million to its affected consumers and pay a $100,000 civil penalty.

• The CFPB with the Attorneys General of North Carolina and Virginia filed a lawsuit against Freedom Stores, Inc., Freedom Acceptance Corporation, Military Credit Services LLC, John F. Melley, Leonard B. Melley, Jr. in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. [CFPB v. Freedom Stores, Inc., Freedom Acceptance Corporation, Military Credit Services LLC, John F. Melley, and Leonard B. Melley, Jr., case no. 2:14cv643, filed 12/18/14]

• The CFPB with the attorneys general of North Carolina and Virginia sued Freedom Stores and its affiliates for allegedly “targeting North Carolina and Virginia military consumers with unfair business practices including illegal debt collection tactics.” The CFPB claimed that Freedom Stores and its affiliates “illegally filed thousands of lawsuits in Virginia for out-of-state contracts,” including 3,500 lawsuits filed against consumers who did not sign “financing contracts in Virginia and did not live there when the suit was filed,” which “resulted in default judgments that resulted in the garnishing of consumer wages or liens put on their bank accounts.”

The CFPB also alleged that Freedom Stores and its affiliates “double dipp[ed] into service members funds, which resulted in payments being taken from consumers paychecks and also their bank accounts without their knowledge and before the payment due date.”

Freedom Stores and its affiliates agreed to refund more than $2.5 million to its affected consumers and pay a $100,000 civil penalty. [Thomas Russell, “Freedom Furniture to pay $2.6M consumer settlement,” Furniture Today, 12/18/14]