For Your Information
Announced Actions
for March 23, 2004
Commission approval of consent
in settlement of court action:
The Commission has approved a consent in settlement of a court
action brought against Castle Publishing (Castle)
and Treigh Dustin Hubbard, individually and as the
sole owner of Castle. The FTC filed its complaint against
Castle, a Texas sole proprietorship, and Hubbard as part of
its December 2003 law enforcement sweep, “Operation
Pushing the Envelope,” an effort to crack down on envelope-stuffing
business opportunity fraud. According to the FTC, since early
2001, the defendants fraudulently marketed and sold worthless
envelope-stuffing business opportunities to consumers throughout
the United States using unsolicited home mailers containing
numerous false claims. Many of their customers were unemployed,
disabled, or elderly consumers who hoped to earn an income
working from home.
The stipulated final order announced today
settles the FTC’s charges against the defendants and
permanently bans Hubbard from marketing any work-at-home business
opportunity. The order also contains a monetary judgment of
$5.4 million in restitution, which is suspended based on Hubbard’s
inability to pay. If he is found to have misrepresented his
financial condition to the Commission, however, the entire
judgment would be due. The order also includes standard record-keeping
provisions to ensure the defendants’ compliance with
its terms. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Texas, Austin Division, on March 16, 2004,
and entered by the court on March 18, 2004. The Commission
vote to approve the settlement of the court action was 5-0.
(FTC File No. X040012; Civ. No. A03CA 905SS; staff contact
is Randy Brook, FTC Northwest Region, 206-220-4487; see press
release dated December
16, 2003.)
Release of Commission report:
The Commission has authorized the
staff to release publicly the 26th Annual Report to
Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
The FDCPA prohibits abusive, deceptive, and otherwise improper
collection practices by third-party debt collectors. Section
815 of the FDCPA requires the Commission to submit annual
reports to Congress. This report summarizes the Commission’s
administration and enforcement of the FDCPA during 2003. It
presents an overview of the types of consumer complaints received
by the Commission, a summary of the Commission’s consumer
and industry education initiatives, and descriptions of the
Commission’s debt-collection enforcement cases that
became public in 2003. The report also contains four recommendations
for amendments to the FDCPA that the Commission believes will
improve the statute’s clarity and effectiveness as a
law enforcement tool. The Commission vote to issue the report
was 5-0. (FTC File No. P044805; staff contact is Thomas E.
Kane, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3224.)
Copies
of the documents mentioned in this release are available from
the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov
and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room
130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2180
(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/fyi0421.htm)
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Related Documents:
FTC
v. Castle Publishing, a Texas Sole Proprietorship, the Brigadier
Group, LLC, a Texas Limited Liability Company, and Treigh
Dustin Hubbard, individually, and as the sole owner and managing
member of the above companies, Defendants.,
(U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas: Austin
Division), Civil Action No.: AO3CA 905SS, File No. 032-3161
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Annual Report to Congress: Federal Trade Commission Enforcement
Actions and Consumer and Industry Education Initiatives in
2003 (March 2004)
- Text
of Report [PDF 68KB]
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