Federal Trade Commission v. Gill

Facts

From 1995 through 1999, defendants Keith Gill, a licensed California attorney, and Richard Murkey, a former attorney, operated a credit repair business ostensibly through Gill’s law offices in Woodland Hills, California. Murkey regularly appeared on radio broadcasts throughout Southern California, making representations that any type of negative information, including bankruptcies, foreclosures, tax liens, judgments, and late payments, could be legally and permanently removed from consumers’ credit reports, even if the information was accurate and the consumer still owed money. Consumers signed retainer agreements with Gill’s law office, and Murkey handled initial consultations, explaining services and negotiating fees. Defendants required advance payment of 25-50% of estimated costs before performing any services and continued billing consumers regardless of whether services were completed. Their “legal” process consisted of inundating credit reporting agencies with dispute letters falsely alleging items were incorrect, sent in the consumer’s name without their review or authorization, exploiting the CRAs’ 30-day verification requirement under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Many consumers discovered that promised results were not achieved, but Defendants continued billing them and rarely responded to complaints.