Student loans: more than 8,000 beneficiaries of illegal commissions will receive $10.9 million in payments
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that it has sent payments to student loan borrowers who were charged illegal upfront fees for free services.
Thousands of consumers who were harmed by two California-based companies that focused on student debt relief and general debt settlement will finally be seeing restitution. A federal court in 2022 ordered that Performance SLC and Performance Settlement along with the owner and CEO of both Daniel Crenshaw pay for violating the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and provide victims with redress.
The total amount to be distributed is nearly $11 million and will come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s victims relief fund. The federal consumer watchdog has announced that payments would be sent out 15 February 2024 through RUST Consulting.
Student loans: more than 8,000 beneficiaries of illegal commissions will receive $10.9 million in payments
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a public statement said that 8,571 consumers who were harmed by the actions of the California-based companies will receive payments. The $10,936,618 in total that is to be distributed works out to $1,276 on average per victim.
Those who have questions about receiving a refund can email performance_info@rustcfpbconsumerprotection.org, call 1 (888) 396-6086 or write to the following address: CFPB v. Performance SLC, Third Party Administrator - 8377, P.O. Box 2561, Fairbault, MN 55021-9561.
Allegations and ruling against Performance SLC, Performance Settlement and Crenshaw
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a complaint in 2020 against California-based companies Performance SLC and Performance Settlement along with Crenshaw, the owner and CEO of both. The federal consumer watchdog alleged that between 2015 and 2022 Performance SLC, which focused on federal student loan debt relief, had illegally charged thousands of consumers with federal student loans roughly $9.2 million in upfront fees to file paperwork on their behalf to apply for programs that were available to them for free from the United States Department of Education. Performance Settlement, a general debt settlement company, was accused of having used deceptive tactics to convince consumers referred by OneLoanPlace.com to sign up for its services from 2018 through 2022.
These were violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule enacted in 2010 and the federal district court for the Central District of California ordered the companies and Crenshaw to pay restitution to harmed consumers along with imposing civil penalties. The ruling also permanently bans Performance SLC from providing debt-relief services, and Crenshaw himself for five years. Performance Settlement is permanently enjoined from obtaining referrals from companies purporting to make or arrange loans the federal consumer watchdog informed.
Follow all the latest news on AS USA.