New York Paralegal Blog

Vertrue And Adaptive Marketing To Pay $2 Million In Refunds To New Yorkers Who Were Duped While Shopping Online NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with Vertrue Incorporated and its subsidiary, Adaptive Marketing, LLC (collectively “Adaptive”) to provide $2 million in refunds to New York consumers who were tricked into enrolling online in Adaptive's discount club programs and then charged hidden fees. Adaptive also agreed to reform its online marketing practices.

The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 450,177 refund checks worth almost $108 million to homeowners who were allegedly overcharged by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. As part of the FTC’s efforts to protect financially distressed homeowners, the FTC reached a settlement with Countrywide last year over allegations that the company collected excessive fees from borrowers who were struggling to keep their homes. “It’s astonishing that a single company could be responsible for overcharging more than 450,000 homeowners,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. “Countrywide’s unconscionable behavior harmed American consumers on a massive scale and we are proud to be getting every single dollar back to hundreds of thousands of struggling consumers who can least afford to lose the money.”

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (October 5, 2009) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that his office has reached an agreement with Rochester-based Frontier Communications, Inc. over its failure to properly notify consumers about substantial early termination fees for its services. In January 2009, Attorney General Cuomo’s Office began investigating Frontier Communications and its subsidiaries after receiving dozens of complaints from consumers who were unexpectedly charged early termination fees.