The Green Savers: Rachel From "Card Services" Gets a Lifetime Ban

The Case

On November 1, 2012, the FTC sued The Green Savers, LLC (also doing business as Elite Services and Advanced Data Solutions), Pavac, Inc., Advanced Data Software, LLC, Christopher Adams, and Vikash Jawalapersad in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Case No. 6:12-cv-01588). The FTC filed an amended complaint on November 13, 2012. One of five robocall cases the FTC announced together, and where the FTC said state partners in Arizona, Arkansas, and Florida also took action against similar companies.

The Calls

According to the amended complaint, since at least October 2010 the defendants telemarketed credit card interest rate reduction services nationwide. Many calls used voice broadcasting with a prerecorded message, often from "Rachel" with "Card Services," telling consumers to press a number to reach a live rep.

The reps promised 0% rates, savings of typically at least $2,500, and paying off debt three to five times faster. The fee? Typically $1,000 to $3,000, charged right after the call and pitched as a "no out of pocket expense plan."

And what did people get? The complaint says that sometimes the defendants just set up three-way calls with consumers' card companies to ask for a lower rate, which the FTC called "a task consumers could easily perform themselves." Other times they just applied for new low-rate cards.

The Eight Counts

This complaint is a near complete tour of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR):

1. Misrepresenting material facts (FTC Act)
2. Misrepresenting debt relief services
3. Charging advance fees for debt relief
4. Calling numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry
5. Failing to honor do not call requests
6. Failing to transmit caller ID
7. Making unlawful prerecorded calls
8. Failing to make required oral disclosures

The Ending

In June 2013, the court entered a stipulated order against The Green Savers, Pavac, Advanced Data Software, and Jawalapersad. It permanently banned them from:

• Initiating, or causing others to initiate, any call delivering a prerecorded message
• Participating in telemarketing or assisting others engaged in telemarketing
• Marketing debt relief products or services

The order entered a $3,879,114 judgment, the total alleged consumer injury, suspended once Jawalapersad turned over a bank account balance and sold a 2008 Ford F-250 truck, among other obligations. A separate order against Christopher Adams followed in September 2013.

What I Take From It

Robocalls, Registry numbers, missing caller ID, and upfront debt relief fees are a recipe for losing the ability to telemarket at all, not just a fine. If someone pitches you "interest rate reduction" leads, run.