Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

In October 2025, a federal court temporarily halted American Tax Service (ATS), an alleged tax debt relief scheme operated by Terrance Selb and Tyler Bennett following FTC and State of Nevada allegations that they impersonated government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, deceptively promised tax debt relief, sent threats to consumers about their debts and pocketed tens of millions of consumers’ dollars.

The defendants were ordered to surrender over $8 million in cash and turn over additional assets to settle the charges. 

Under the proposed order, the defendants will also be banned from debt relief services, tax preparation services, telemarketing and impersonation of individuals, governments or businesses.

Shutterstock Inc. will pay $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the online digital photo and video platform illegally made tens of millions of dollars from a range of unfair and deceptive practices, including charging consumers for products without their informed consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. 

The Federal Trade Commission will require automotive services company Valvoline Inc. and private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Fund V., L.P. (Greenbriar) to divest 45 quick-lube oil change shops to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding their $625 million deal. Main Street Auto, LLC will acquire the divested outlets from Greenbriar under the terms of the FTC’s proposed divestiture order.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Uber Technologies, Inc. and Uber USA LLC (collectively, “Uber”) for alleged violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence
Act (“ROSCA”). Among other things, the complaint alleges that Uber charges consumers for its subscription service, Uber One, through a negative option feature but has failed to provide a simple mechanism to stop recurring charges. The complaint also alleges Uber has charged consumers without their consent in violation of the FTC Act and ROSCA. Further, the complaint alleges Uber falsely claims that consumers can cancel Uber One at “any time” with no additional fees. 

The FTC filed a lawsuit today against Uber, alleging the rideshare and delivery company charged consumers for its Uber One subscription service without their consent, failed to deliver promised savings, and made it difficult for users to cancel the service despite its “cancel anytime” promises.

The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, and the Wisconsin Attorney General, filed suit against Consumer Law Protection and related companies, along with their owners and operators, Christopher Carroll, George Reed, Louann Reed, Scott Jackson, and Eduardo Balderas for scamming consumers—mostly older adults—out of more than $90 million in a massive timeshare exit scam.

Forever Living will be permanently prohibited from making deceptive earnings claims to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company deceived consumers that they could earn profits from the venture when the vast majority of participants made little or no money.

In April 2026, the FTC announced that StubHub, the nation’s largest ticket exchange and resale ticket provider, will pay $10 million to settle charges that the company violated the FTC Act and the agency’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees by deceptively advertising ticket prices on its website without clearly and conspicuously disclosing up-front how much consumers actually would pay, including all mandatory fees. 

The FTC reached a settlement with OkCupid and its affiliate Match Group Americas over allegations OkCupid deceived users of its dating app by sharing their personal information, including photos and location information, with an unrelated third party, contrary to OkCupid’s privacy promises. 

In March 2026, the FTC announced that it secured a settlement against Xponential Fitness for Franchise Rule violations and related deceptive practices, including $17 million that will be returned to franchisees, which is the largest amount ever to go back to consumers in a franchise case.

The FTC alleged that Xponential Fitness, which sells franchises for popular fitness studios brands such as Club Pilates, Pure Barre, YogaSix, StretchLab, and BFT, misrepresented key information about the costs, risks, time to open and operate studios, and essential details about the company’s operations, leaving many franchisees and prospective franchisees in the dark about their investment.

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Invitation Homes, the country’s largest landlord of single-family homes, for an array of unlawful actions against consumers, including deceiving renters about lease costs, charging undisclosed junk fees, failing to inspect homes before residents moved in, and unfairly withholding tenants’ security deposits when they moved out.

Invitation Homes has agreed to a proposed settlement order that would require the company to turn over $48 million to be used to refund consumers harmed by its actions. The corporate landlord will also be required to clearly disclose its leasing prices, establish policies and procedures to handle security deposit refunds fairly, and stop other unlawful behavior. In March 2026, the FTC announced it was sending more than $47.2 million to harmed consumers.

Walmart, Inc. has agreed to a $100 million judgment to settle FTC allegations that the company caused delivery drivers to lose tens of millions of dollars’ worth of earnings, by deceiving them about the base pay, incentive pay and tips they could earn. 

The Federal Trade Commission will require The Boeing Company (Boeing) to divest significant Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (Spirit) assets to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding Boeing’s $8.3 billion acquisition of Spirit.

On February 17, 2026, the FTC finalized the consent order in this matter.

In July 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in federal court against the California-based marketers and promoters of bogus treatments for serious medical conditions.  The defendants are two corporations headquartered in Porterville, California, and two of their executives: Huu Tieu, president and CEO of both companies; and Stephen Meis, Medical Director and board member of Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical.  The complaint alleged that defendants have promoted and sold a variety of products through "plans of care" ranging in price from $23,000 to $200,000, which falsely claim to treat or cure COVID-19, cancer, Parkinson's disease, etc. On June 14, 2021, the FTC announced a proposed order barring the defendants from making bogus health claims. In January 2024, the FTC announced the process defrauded consumers can use to seek refunds. In February 2026, the FTC announced it was sending refund checks to eligible consumers, as well as an online process for eligible consumers who have not yet submitted a claim to do so. 

The Federal Trade Commission and 10 states are suing sham charity Cancer Recovery Foundation International, also known as Women’s Cancer Fund, and its operator, Gregory B. Anderson, for deceiving generous donors who sought to offer financial support to women battling cancer and their families.

In a complaint filed in federal court, the FTC and states allege that, from 2017 to 2022, Women’s Cancer Fund collected more than $18 million from donors. The sham charity claimed that it would use the donated funds to help women who were undergoing treatment for cancer and their families pay for basic needs. Instead, the complaint charges, only about a penny of every dollar donated went to provide such support, while the overwhelming majority went to pay for-profit fundraisers and Anderson.

The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint to block medical device supplier Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s (Edwards) proposed acquisition of JenaValve Technology, Inc. (JenaValve) due to concerns that the acquisition would limit patient access to lifesaving medical devices used to treat a potentially fatal heart condition. On January 9, 2026, after a six-day trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily prevent Edwards from acquiring JenaValve.