March 30, 2016
The CFPB issued an order against student debt relief company, Student Aid Institute, Inc., and its chief executive officer, Steven Lamont, for, among other things, deceiving customers about how much they would save by using their services and misleading customers into believing that fees were required to participate in free federal student loan programs. The company reaped millions of dollars in advance fees from thousands of customers as a result of these and other deceptions. The order requires Student Aid Institute and Lamont to pay a penalty of $50,000, shut down the company’s debt relief services, cancel all contracts with customers and stop charging them for services. The company and Lamont are also permanently barred from the debt relief industry. CFPB