Consumer Bureau Action Tracker

CFPB v. Prime Credit, L.L.C., IMC Capital, L.L.C., Commercial Credit Consultants, Blake Johnson, and Eric Schlegel


State

Nationwide

target

Prime Credit, L.L.C., IMC Capital, L.L.C., Commercial Credit Consultants, Blake Johnson, and Eric Schlegel

Topics

Enforcement, Credit Reporting

In June 2017, the CFPB sued Prime Credit, L.L.C., IMC Capital, L.L.C., Commercial Credit Consultants, Blake Johnson, Eric Schlegel, Park View Law, and Arthur Barens in the United States District Court Central District of California. The CFPB alleged that the credit-repair companies in both cases “misled consumers about how much their credit scores might improve.” Specifically, the suit alleged that the companies “told customers that their credit scores could be improved by an average of 100 points but did not actually collect credit score information that could have justified that claim.” Furthermore, “the companies charged prohibited fees” that in some cases were “several hundred dollars.” “Blake Johnson and Eric Schlegel, the former owners of some of the firms, will pay a combined penalty of $1.53 million but did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement … Arthur Barens and his company Park View Law Inc., which did business with Johnson and Schlegel’s firms, will pay $500,000.”

  • “Credit-repair services promise to help consumers fix their credit scores, but there’s only so much they can do. They can help clear up inaccurate or outdated information on a consumer’s credit report, but they can’t erase legitimate dings. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged that a group of related L.A. credit-repair companies didn’t make that clear and misled consumers about how much their credit scores might improve.” [James Rufus Koren, “$2-million settlement ends accusations that L.A. credit-repair firms misled consumers, Los Angeles Times, 06/27/17]
  • “Blake Johnson and Eric Schlegel, the former owners of some of the firms, will pay a combined penalty of $1.53 million but did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement…Arthur Barens and his company Park View Law Inc., which did business with Johnson and Schlegel’s firms, will pay $500,000.” [James Rufus Koren, “$2-million settlement ends accusations that L.A. credit-repair firms misled consumers, Los Angeles Times, 06/27/17]
  • “The companies also told customers that their credit scores could be improved by an average of 100 points but did not actually collect credit score information that could have justified that claim, according to the bureau. What’s more, the companies charged prohibited fees…The companies in this case, though, charged an up-front consultation fee of $59.95, a one-time ‘set-up’ fee of several hundred dollars and then an ongoing monthly fee of $89.99 until customers canceled the service, according to settlement documents.” [James Rufus Koren, “$2-million settlement ends accusations that L.A. credit-repair firms misled consumers, Los Angeles Times, 06/27/17]

Status

Inactive or Resolved


2:17-cv-04720 6/27/2017 6/27/2017


https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/enforcement/actions/prime-credit-llc-imc-capital-llc-commercial-credit-consultants-blake-johnson-eric-schlegel-park-view-law-and-arthur-barens/

  • Federal district court case
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • Nonbank
  • $1,530,000
  • Not Available

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