Mortgage Broker Who Dumped Consumer Records Settles FTC Charges
January 20th, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
A mortgage broker who discarded consumers’ personal financial records in a publicly- accessible dumpster paid a $35,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. According to an FTC complaint filed in December 2008, the defendant improperly disposed of about 40 boxes of sensitive consumer records collected by companies he had owned, including tax returns, mortgage applications, bank statements, photocopies of credit cards and drivers’ licenses, and at least 230 credit reports. In addition, two mortgage brokerage companies he previously owned failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security for sensitive consumer information, despite promising they would do so.