Business Blog
$505 million back for payday loan customers – and two messages for business
For consumers who took out loans with online payday lender AMG, the company’s illegal tactics left many of them saying OMG. But finally there’s good news for AMG customers arriving in the form of $505 million in refund checks just mailed to people who borrowed money between January 2008 through January 2013. That’s the largest amount ever sent in a refund program run by the FTC. At the same time, we have two messages for companies: a law enforcement warning to those who engage in similar shady tactics and a favor to ask of reputable members of the business community.
When consumers turned to AMG for online payday loans, they agreed to pay the company a one-time finance fee, but an emboldened AMG helped themselves to more – and more and more. Add up AMG’s hidden fees and unauthorized withdrawals and people ended up paying far more for the loans that the agreed-upon amount. For example, a consumer who took out a $300 loan agreed to pay back $390. But by the time AMG finished fleecing the account, the consumer actually had to pay $975. And remember: These were folks already struggling to make ends meet.
The FTC sued AMG and Scott A. Tucker for a long list of law violations. In 2016 a United States District Judge ruled that the defendants had engaged in a host of illegal practices. Then in 2017, a federal jury in New York convicted Tucker and his attorney Timothy Muir for crimes related to the lending scheme. Tucker was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison.
Although portions of the cases remain on appeal, the FTC and the Department of Justice have already obtained $505 million in settlements as a result of those law enforcement actions and related ones. And the FTC is sending that money right back where it belongs: to the more than one million consumers who were injured by AMG’s illegal actions.
Checks will be sent to consumers who took out loans between January 2008 and January 2013 from these AMG-related companies: 500FastCash, Advantage Cash Services, Ameriloan, OneClickCash, Star Cash Processing, UnitedCashLoans, and USFastCash. There is no application process and those consumers don’t have to do anything to get money back. The FTC and a refund administrator have used AMG’s business records to identify eligible consumers and calculate their refunds.
Consumers should cash their checks within 60 days. If they have questions – or if they borrowed from those lenders before January 2008 – they can call 1-866-730-8147. The FTC’s AMG refund page has more information.
In addition, the FTC has a law enforcement warning for companies contemplating similar tactics. It’s always bad business to engage in deceptive and unfair practices. But law enforcement agencies are particularly troubled when companies kick cash-strapped consumers when they’re down. And depending on the facts, questionable business practices can subject companies, individual corporate officers, and their attorneys to criminal prosecution.
Now for that favor we’re asking of business executives. HR professionals report that employees’ financial worries can affect their job performance. With more than a million checks going out to people who got payday loans from AMG, chances are you have an employee or two struggling to make ends meet. The FTC has free resources for consumers trying to get out of debt. An article on the break room bulletin board or information available through your HR team may be the first step toward helping them get their financial houses back in order.
In reply to My paper the check was by Shannon
The letter you got from the FTC said your check is a partial refund. It says that because the amount of your check is less than the total amount you paid to AMG Services, Inc. when it illegally charged you undisclosed and inflated fees. The FTC has sent out all the money that is available.
In reply to It said that i receive a by James
The letter you got from the FTC said your check is a partial refund. It says that because the amount of your check is less than the total amount you paid to AMG Services, Inc. when it illegally charged you undisclosed and inflated fees. The FTC has sent out all the money that is available.
In reply to As most would, I also checked by P.Hughes
You can call the company that the FTC hired to manage the refund process at 1-866-730-8147.
In reply to The person I talked to at by Crystal
Rust Consulting has been reviewing the documents people sent in, and it has started to reissue checks.
Please send a copy of your comment to BlogInfo@FTC.gov and someone from the FTC will contact you directly.
In reply to Rust Consulting has been by FTC Staff
In reply to Thank you. I will. by Crystal
Thanks.
In reply to What if you are do for a by Cecelia
You can call the company that the FTC hired to manage the refund process at 1-866-730-8147.
In reply to Thank you my question my by D Clark
The letter you got from the FTC said your check is a partial refund. It says that because the amount of your check is less than the total amount you paid to AMG Services, Inc. when it illegally charged you undisclosed and inflated fees. The FTC has sent out all the money that is available.The letter you got from the FTC said your check is a partial refund. It says that because the amount of your check is less than the total amount you paid to AMG Services, Inc. when it illegally charged you undisclosed and inflated fees. The FTC has sent out all the money that is available.
In reply to What do you mean when you say by Loreyann Barela
Some people asked why their checks said "partial refund." They asked if they would get a second check. I explained that that when the FTC sent checks in October, it sent all the money that was available.
If you got a check from the FTC in October but you didn't cash it, and it is being reissued, there should be enough funds to cover the reissued check.
In reply to Some people asked why their by FTC Staff
In reply to Some people asked why their by FTC Staff
In reply to Hi, Bridget, by Aaron Hackman
Aaron, Thank you for letting us know. Please make a copy of your comment and send it to BlogInfo@ftc.gov.
In reply to Aaron, Thank you for letting by FTC Staff
In reply to Hi, Bridget, by Aaron Hackman
In reply to These refund checks for by Carolann Tracy
The letter you got from the FTC said your check is a partial refund. It says that because the amount of your check is less than the total amount you paid to AMG Services, Inc. when it illegally charged you undisclosed and inflated fees. The FTC has sent out all the money that is available.
In reply to These refund checks for by Carolann Tracy
In reply to Like you see this is the by Dally12227
The FTC mailed 1,179,803 refund checks totaling more than $505 million to people who were deceived by AMG Services, Inc. and Scott A. Tucker, who operated a massive payday lending scheme.
If you got a check from the FTC, the letter that came with it said the check is a partial refund. It says that because the amount of your check is less than the total amount you paid to AMG Services, Inc. when it illegally charged you undisclosed and inflated fees. The FTC has sent out all the money that is available.
In reply to I am from the state of by Brenda Smith
People got checks because of the loans they took out. You don't have to live in a certain state to get a check.
Checks were sent to people who took out loans between January 2008 and January 2013 from 500FastCash, Advantage Cash Services, Ameriloan, OneClickCash, Star Cash Processing, UnitedCashLoans, and USFastCash. There was no application process. You don’t have to do anything to get money back. The FTC and a refund administrator have used AMG’s business records to identify people who were eligible to get a check, and to calculate the how much people would get back.
In reply to If five hundred million by Daly12227
The FTC mailed 1,179,803 refund checks totaling more than $505 million to people who were deceived by AMG Services, Inc. and Scott A. Tucker, who operated a massive payday lending scheme. Read more at www.FTC.gov/AMG.
In reply to This is crazy i only received by J howard
The FTC mailed 1,179,803 refund checks totaling more than $505 million to people who took out loans between January 2008 and January 2013 from 500FastCash, Advantage Cash Services, Ameriloan, OneClickCash, Star Cash Processing, UnitedCashLoans, and USFastCash.
When people took out loans, AMG said it would charge a one-time finance fee. Instead, AMG made multiple illegal withdrawals from peoples’ bank accounts and charged hidden fees.
The amount of your partial refund is based on the amount you lost from illegally charged fees on the loans you took before January 2013 with a company affiliated with AMG Services, Inc. Each person got a refund for a percentage of the money they lost in illegally charged fees.
In reply to This is crazy i only received by J howard
In reply to I have been in the process of by Marilyn
In reply to Bridget can you please tell by S miller
I can't tell you exactly when Rust Consulting will send out the next batch of checks. They don't send checks one at a time. People send updated address and identification information to Rust, and Rust reviews it. Rust sends out checks in batches. If you called Rust and sent the information they asked for, they will review it and send your check.
In reply to i received 2 checks.am I by dustin
You might get one check or you might get more than one check. The number of checks you get is connected to the name, address and account information the FTC found about you. The FTC tried to combine information about accounts so it could send one check to each person. But sometimes it wasn't clear whether information was about one person or two people. When information was not clear, we did not combine it. For example, we did not combine accounts that had a maiden name and a married name, or accounts that had one name but two addresses. When we saw that, we sent separate checks.
Each check is a partial refund for the amount you lost from illegally charged fees. Each person gets a refund for a percentage of their total loss.