SALT LAKE CITY, Utah May 23, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The Federal Trade Commission and Utah regulators Monday announced a historic damage settlement against a Utah-based real estate investment firm.
The FTC and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection have reached a court-ordered settlement with Response Marketing Group, LLC and its principals, who have agreed to pay $15 million and are banned from selling money-making opportunities, reads a Monday press release from the Utah Department of Commerce.
The lawsuit brought by DCP, a division of the commerce department, and the FTC accused Response Marketing of using false promises to sell expensive real estate investment training programs. Additionally, two real estate celebrities, Scott Yancey and Dean R. Graziosi, endorsed the training and agreed to pay $1.7 million.
“This is the largest consumer protection division settlement in Utah’s history and holds Response Marketing Group and its affiliates accountable for the serious financial harm to consumers across the country,” said Utah Department of Commerce Executive Director Margaret Busse. “Utah business that seek to take advantage of consumers should be put on notice.”
Response Marketing, based in Lindon, drew consumers to free evens nationwide through infomercials and social media advertisements in which celebrities promised to share their investment techniques. “At these events, Response Marketing enticed consumers to purchase three-day workshops for around $1,000 by falsely representing that it would provide consumers with access to special tools that would enable them to become successful real estate investors.
“Response Marketing deceptively pitched additional training programs that cost tens of thousands of dollars at the three-day workshops,” according to the complaint filed in 2019 by DCP and the FTC.
“The company then ‘upsold’ consumers by pitching a purported coaching program called ‘Inner Circle’ through telemarketing that could cost as much as an additional $30,000. Most consumers who purchased Response Marketing’s products and services did not become successful real estate investors and did not recoup the money they spent on the training programs.”
Response Marketing sold training programs under various names, including Affluence Edu, Cash Flow Edu, Flip for Life, OnWealth, Renovate to Rent, and Visionary Events.
The settlement also involves Response Marketing’s affiliates, Nudge LLC and BuyPD LLC and four individuals who allegedly owned the company, and its president, respectively, Brandon B. Lewis, Ryan C. Poelman, Phillip W. Smith, Shawn L. Finnegan and Clint R. Sanderson.
Response Marketing must pay consumers $15 million in redress. “Failure to make these payments will result in an additional $15 million in civil penalties payable to the Utah DCP.”
