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I am pleased to announce the appointment of a new manager in the Bureau of Competition: Patty McDermott has joined the Anticompetitive Practices Division as Deputy Assistant Director. Patty has served in the FTC’s Health Care Division since 2014, and received the Commission’s Louis D. Brandeis Award in 2018 for leading the trial team in FTC v. AbbVie. Before joining the FTC, Patty worked in private practice and clerked for the Honorable Cameron...

The FTC’s complaint against Bronx Honda alleges the company jacked up what consumers had to pay by fabricating fees, inflating charges, and sneaking in stealth add-ons. The lawsuit also alleges the defendants discriminated against African-American and Hispanic consumers by charging them higher financing markups and fees, in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Reg B. The $1.5 million proposed settlement, which requires the company to...

Over the past few years, the Bureau has faced a surprising number of failing firm claims by merging parties. Even when the economy was booming, we heard many iterations of the same argument: The acquired firm is failing. The acquiring firm is failing. Both firms are failing (which presumably would justify the merger on the basis that if you tie two sinking rocks together, they’re more likely to float). The entire industry is failing. But despite...

For a company called Harvest Moon, its business practices sure leave consumers in the dark about key aspects of its payday loans. That’s what the FTC alleges in a case filed in federal court in Nevada. Using consumer-facing names like Harvest Moon Financial, Gentle Breeze Online, and Green Stream Lending, 11 related Nevada- and California-based defendants – including a tribal lending enterprise chartered under the laws of the La Posta Band of...

Elderberry, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, mushrooms, and horse milk. (Horse milk?) The FTC just sent 50 more warning letters to companies promoting products or services advertised to prevent or treat coronavirus. Here’s the latest list of who’s been warned, what they’re selling, and some of what they’re saying. Acupuncture Healing Center. The Chicago company claimed in marketing materials that its treatments can “facilitate the body’s immune...

Our men and women in uniform take on unique hardships when they choose to serve. Identity theft shouldn’t be one of them. But the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network database shows that active duty servicemembers file reports about many forms of identity theft – and related problems with debt collection and credit reporting – at much higher rates than non-military consumers. Five years of identity theft data reported to the FTC on IdentityTheft.gov...

Just as consumers are engaging in social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19, businesses, too, should distance themselves from companies using robocalls to spread coronavirus-related scams. That’s the message of joint warning letters just sent by the FTC and the Federal Communications Commission. These aren’t the first letters to VoIP service providers, but there’s something different this time. According to the warning letter to Canadian...

Companies that deceive consumers often don’t act alone. Pull back the curtain and you may find behind-the-scenes businesses that lend a hand. The FTC alleges that Atlanta-based First Data Merchant Services and its former vice president, Chi “Vincent” Ko, engaged in conduct that helped scammers rake in megabucks at consumers’ expense. The $40.2 million total proposed settlement should warn other companies of the hazards of looking the other way...

Way back in Marketing 101, we learned that consumers factor a number of features into their purchase decisions: price, performance, product positioning, and personal preference, to name just a few. The FTC’s proposed settlement with game developer Miniclip serves as a reminder of another important alliterative consideration for many consumers: privacy. The company claimed it was a current member of a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule’s...

The PNO handles Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification filings for thousands of transactions each year. Filing fees are also required as part of the HSR premerger notification process. Failure to pay the required fee on time will delay the HSR waiting period, but careful planning for the fee submission can help avoid most fee-related problems. The reminders and tips in this blog will help ensure that the PNO receives and processes the HSR...