In United States vs. Mortgage Investors Corp. of Ohio, filed in the Middle District of Florida on June 25, 2013, a home loan refinancing company agreed to pay a $7.5 million civil penalty for allegedly violating Do Not Call provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). According to the Federal Trade Commission, it was the largest fine ever collected for Do Not Call violations. The complaint alleged that Mortgage Investors' telemarketers called more than 5.4 million numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry to offer home loan refinancing services. Mortgage Investors was also accused of misrepresenting the terms of its loan offers. Besides the $7.5 million payment, Mortgage Investors agreed to: honor future requests from consumer who wish to be placed on the entity-specific Do Not Call list all telemarketers are required to maintain; stop calling consumers on the National Do Not Call Registry; stop misrepresenting the terms of its mortgage credit products; and stop falsely claiming an affiliation with any government entity or organization including the Veterans' Administration. The proposed settlement is not final unless and until the court approves it.
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