Announced Actions for August 12, 2003

Commission authorization of the staff to file amicus brief and appear as amicus curiae: The Commission has authorized the staff to file an amicus brief and to appear as amicus curiae in Carter v. ICR Services, Inc., No. 00-CV-2666 (N.D. Ala.). Carter is a class action against many of the same defendants that are involved in the Commission's National Credit Repair matter. The Commission recently announced a complaint and proposed consent order in that matter (see press release dated August 11, 2003). Prior to the announcement of the proposed FTC settlement, counsel in Carter petitioned the court to enjoin the National Credit Repair defendants from paying the Commission any money under the FTC's settlement until the judgment entered against them in Carter has been satisfied. The staff subsequently appeared at a hearing in the Carter case to defend the Commission's interests.

According to the amicus brief filed with the court, class counsel's motion for injunction should be denied, as the settlement with the FTC "would substantially further the public interest that the Commission represents, and [the] plaintiffs have not shown that any harm they might suffer if the injunction were denied outweighs the substantial harm to the public interest." Following the filing of the brief, the court denied the request for injunction on August 7, 2003.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the brief, which is available on the FTC's Web site as a link to this press release, was 4-0, with Commissioner Sheila F. Anthony not participating. (File No. 012-3199; staff contact is Todd M. Kossow, 312-960-5616.)

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.