Penalty Amount
$1,000,000
Consumers Affected
46,204
Harris Jewelry defrauded servicemembers with deceptive marketing, inflated prices, and hidden fees. A multistate settlement requires $34.2 million in refunds and debt relief, stops debt collection, and dissolves the business, affecting over 46,000 servicemembers.
Harris Jewelry must pay $1 million to states, stop collecting $21.3 million in debt, provide $12.9 million in refunds for protection plans, vacate judgments, delete negative credit entries, and dissolve all businesses. An independent monitor will oversee the relief process.
In-house legal teams should scrutinize customer financing agreements, warranty sales contracts, and any third-party financing partner agreements for clauses that permit deceptive marketing representations (e.g., false promises of credit improvement or charitable ties), ambiguous pricing structures that enable inflation, and hidden fee disclosures. Specific attention must be paid to compliance with the Military Lending Act, including APR caps and clear disclosure requirements for servicemember borrowers. Contracts may require amendments to add unambiguous, prominent disclosures about total costs, the non-impact on credit scores from 'investment' programs, and explicit opt-out mechanisms for warranties. Debt collection and credit reporting clauses must be revised to ensure immediate cessation of collection efforts and mandatory credit score correction processes for affected servicemembers.
Entity
Harris Jewelry
Industry
Retail$34.0M
Connecticut Attorney General announced a $34 million multistate settlement with Harris Jewelry for deceptive marketing and false promises to servicemembers, tricking them into high-interest loans for overpriced jewelry, with refunds and debt relief for affected consumers.
$750K
The FTC finalized an order against Vanilla Chip LLC (doing business as TruHeight) and its principals for deceptively advertising height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without scientific evidence. The company also used fake reviews and incentivized 5-star ratings. The order requires a $750,000 payment and prohibits false health claims and deceptive review practices.
$2.3M
The FTC alleged that RentGrow, a tenant screening company, violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of its reports, including by reporting duplicate records and failing to disclose data sources. RentGrow agreed to pay a $2.25 million penalty and is prohibited from further FCRA violations and from misrepresenting dispute outcomes.
The FTC and New York Attorney General took action against Handy Technologies for deceptive earnings claims and failure to disclose fees and fines that led to millions of dollars being withheld from workers' wages. The FTC is sending over $2.7 million in refunds to 62,893 affected consumers.
$35.0M
The FTC alleged that Hopper, a travel booking app, charged consumers hidden and pre-selected fees (Tip and VIP Support) without their consent, misrepresented the benefits of VIP Support and Price Freeze services, and failed to clearly disclose total prices. Hopper agreed to pay $35 million for consumer redress and is prohibited from misrepresenting fees under a proposed order.
$1.5M
The FTC finalized a settlement with Publishing.com LLC and its principals for misleading consumers about potential earnings from self-publishing products. The company will pay $1.5 million and is prohibited from making unsubstantiated earnings claims, failing to disclose refund terms, and misrepresenting endorsements and reviews.