FTC Wins Injunction Against Illegal Credit Repair Company

U.S. Justice Dept. Halts Houston-based Credit Repair Operation Fraudulent Practices Against Consumers

Fraudulent Credit repair companies are on the rise in Houston, Texas, and in the surrounding areas of the Bayou City. But the Federal Government is clamping down on shady credit operators to halt their schemes of making bogus promises to clients that they’re able to remove each negative item off the client’s credit report. However, it’s been proven time and time again that if a negative entry is listed on the debt of a person’s credit report, it cannot be removed from a credit report unless it’s false or the statute of limitations expired.

This article highlights the continuing NewsBlaze series focused on illegal credit repair companies throughout the United States. Last year NewsBlaze published “Learn the Real Truth About Credit Repair Scams” written by NewsBlaze Consumer Business Reporter Clarence ‘CJ’ Walker Jr.

Credit Repair Alert: Learn the Real Truth About Credit Repair Scams in 2021 – NewsBlaze News

Illegal Credit Repair Action

In a federal civil complaint filed March 1, 2022, and unsealed on March 14, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department won a permanent injunction barring Turbo Solutions Credit Repair Company and its CEO Alexander V. Miller, 42, of Missouri City from representing that the company can repair or improve credit scores for their customers.

Court Imposes Restrictions on Credit Repair Company to Protect Consumers | OPA | Department of Justice

440 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston Where Turbo Credit Repair Solutions Operated. Photo: Clarence Walker.
440 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston Where Turbo Credit Repair Solutions Operated. Photo: Clarence Walker.

The court also included a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendants from making large or non-essential expenditures to preserve assets for consumer redress.

“The Department of Justice will use all tools at its disposal to stop credit repair agencies from engaging in unlawful conduct targeting financially vulnerable consumers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton in a Justice Department press release. Boynton is the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

The FTC and Justice Department representatives said Alexander Miller and his company Turbo Solutions Inc. also violated the following laws:

  • Credit Repair Organizations Act
  • The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule in connections with defendants’ marketing and sales of credit repair services.

On March 4, the court issued a temporary restraining order imposing financial restrictions on defendants throughout the resolution of the preliminary injunction hearing.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that Turbo Solutions Inc. bilked consumers out of millions of dollars by falsely claiming they would remove negative information from credit reports. Turbo Solutions executed another scheme by persuading filing fake identity theft reports to explain why negative entries were listed on their credit reports.

Back Story

In addition, Turbo Solutions routinely solicited and accepted prohibited advanced fees for their credit repair services, and they failed to make required disclosures regarding those services. The principal address for Turbo Solutions Inc. is located at 440 Louisiana Street, Suite 575, Houston, Texas. Turbo Solutions has also used mailing addresses of 77 Sugar Creek Center Boulevard, Suite#611 in Sugar Land, Texas, including 7890 Kemper Circle, in Beaumont, Texas.

Since around 2018, the federal government alleged, Alex V. Miller and Turbo Solutions associates operated an unlawful credit repair scam that harmed vulnerable consumers nationwide. Through internet websites, social media, and telemarketing, Turbo Solutions falsely claimed that the company could quickly improve credit scores for a fee ranging from several hundred dollars to more than $1,500.

Alex v Miller Facebook
Alex v Miller Facebook

As mentioned earlier, Turbo Solutions Associates went a step farther to clean up their customer’s adverse credit reports by filing false identity theft reports on the FTC’s identitytheft.gov website that proved ineffective or unlawful.

“IdentityTheft.gov is a resource for consumers, not scammers,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Those who abuse this resource by filing false reports can expect to hear from us.”

The complaint further alleges that Miller and his company claimed in advertisement messages through the company’s website and Instagram account, “We Delete Inaccurate and Negative Accounts, promising these results in 40 days!

However, several Consumers told FTC investigators that their credit score remained low and that none of the negative debt entries had been removed as promised by Turbo Solutions.

“Credit repair scams affect consumers already suffering from low credit scores,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton.

illegal credit repair
turbo credit repair facebook ad

Potential customers who called the phone number listed on the company’s website and Instagram account reached company representatives. These trained customer sales individuals often made the same false claims, including the lie that consumers’ credit scores would increase by 50-200 points, which violates the Credit Repair Organizations Act(CROA) and the Telemarketing Sales Rule(TSR).

FTC Recommendations

The FTC recommends the following information for consumers to determine if they’re dealing with a legit credit repair/debt counseling service or a fake one.

  • Credit repair or debt counseling service insists you pay them upfront before they do any work.
  • A credit repair representative tells you to dispute information in your credit report even if you know the information is accurate.
  • A representative tells you not to contact the credit reporting bureaus directly.
  • You’re told to give false information on your applications for credit or a loan.
  • A representative doesn’t explain your legal rights when they tell you what they can do for you.

How To Avoid Credit Repair Scams in 2022

  • Credit repair or debt counseling service insists you pay them upfront before they do any work.
  • A credit repair representative tells you to dispute information in your credit report even if you know it isn’t accurate.
  • A representative tells you not to contact the credit reporting bureaus directly.
  • You are told to give false information on your credit or a loan application.
  • A representative doesn’t explain your legal rights when they tell you what they can do for you.

Here is a link to an article explaining additional ways to spot credit repair scams:

How to identify credit repair scams – Lexington Law

“Any person can repair their own credit,” says Howard Dvorkin, chairman at Debt.com. “We also pay people to change our oil, but any person can do their own oil change; you have to have some knowledge and do some prep work. It’s the same thing.”

Names of Attorneys representing the government in the lawsuit against Turbo Solutions Inc.

The government is represented in the civil matter by Trial Attorneys Marcus Smith and Amy Kaplan, Senior Trial Counsel Stephen Tosini, Senior Litigation Counsel Claude Scott, Assistant Director Lisa Hsiao of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Kincheloe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. In addition, the FTC is represented by Gregory A. Ashe.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts related to illegal credit repair, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at https://www.FTC.gov.

NewsBlaze Senior Business Reporter Clarence Walker can be reached at [email protected]

As an analyst and researcher for the PI industry and a business consultant, Clarence Walker is a veteran writer, crime reporter and investigative journalist. He began his writing career with New York-based True Crime Magazines in Houston Texas in 1983, publishing more than 300 feature stories. He wrote for the Houston Chronicle (This Week Neighborhood News and Op-Eds) including freelancing for Houston Forward Times.

Working as a paralegal for a reputable law firm, he wrote for National Law Journal, a publication devoted to legal issues and major court decisions. As a journalist writing for internet publishers, Walker’s work can be found at American Mafia.com, Gangster Inc., Drug War Chronicle, Drug War101 and Alternet.

His latest expansion is to News Break.

Six of Walker’s crime articles were re-published into a paperback series published by Pinnacle Books. One book titled: Crimes Of The Rich And Famous, edited by Rose Mandelsburg, garnered considerable favorable ratings. Gale Publisher also re-published a story into its paperback series that he wrote about the Mob: Is the Mafia Still a Force in America?

Meanwhile this dedicated journalist wrote criminal justice issues and crime pieces for John Walsh’s America’s Most Wanted Crime Magazine, a companion to Walsh blockbuster AMW show. If not working PI cases and providing business intelligence to business owners, Walker operates a writing service for clients, then serves as a crime historian guest for the Houston-based Channel 11TV show called the “Cold Case Murder Series” hosted by reporter Jeff McShan.

At NewsBlaze, Clarence Walker expands his writing abilities to include politics, human interest and world events.

Clarence Walker can be reached at: [email protected]