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  FTC COMPLAINT
  

  The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. We are providing a summary of the governments allegations, which have not yet been proven.

  As of June 21, 2019, at the Federal Trade Commission's request, a federal court has temporarily halted and frozen the assets of Grand Teton Professionals, an alleged credit repair scheme that charged illegal upfront fees and falsely claimed to repair consumers' credit. The company and other defendants are charged with violating the FTC Act and several provisions of the Credit Repair Organizations Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Consumer Review Fairness Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.
  
  The complaint alleges the defendants violated a laundry list of CROA provisions and five other laws in the course of bilking consumers out of $6.2 million. Among other things, the FTC says the defendants falsely promised they could improve consumers' credit scores, extracted thousands of dollars in illegal up-front fees from individual consumers, counseled consumers to make misleading statements to credit bureaus about their credit records, and failed to make required disclosures about their services.
  
  At the FTC's request, a federal court froze the defendants' assets and ordered them to cease their operations temporarily, pending further proceedings in the case.
  
  According to the lawsuit, the defendants claimed they could boost credit scores by deleting from consumers' credit reports all negative items and hard inquiries - the records that show you've applied for credit -- even if the information was accurate and not obsolete. They also promised they could improve credit scores by adding consumers as "authorized users" to the credit accounts of people with positive payment histories, a practice known as adding "tradelines" or "piggybacking" credit.
  
  Using trade names like Deletion Experts, Inquiry Busters, and Top Tradelines, the defendants pitched their products through their websites, unsolicited text and email messages, and telemarketing calls. Typically, the FTC says, they promised guaranteed results and assured consumers that their tactics were legal. The cost? The defendants charged $1,999 to $2,999 for their purported credit report-clearing brands and varying amounts for tradelines.
  
  But, according to the FTC, in most instances the defendants did not substantially improve consumers' credit scores. In addition, the complaint alleges, if consumers complained or tried to exercise their rights to dispute the defendants' illegal advance fees, the defendants threatened to sue them for violating purported anti-disparagement and anti-chargeback contract clauses.
  
  The defendants also allegedly failed to give consumers required written copies of their contracts. And, the contracts themselves allegedly failed to include CROA-required terms, like a detailed description of the services to be performed, an estimate of how long it would take to get results, any guarantees, and a statement of the consumer's three-day right to cancel the contract.
  
  Defendant Startup Masters NJ Inc.  is a Wyoming corporation  with its principal place of business in Lawnside, Camden County, It was  ordered to cease operations and freeze its assets while a lawsuit brought by the FTC against the firm and 11 other defendants proceeds..    

   At all times material to this Complaint, acting alone or in concert with others, Startup Masters NJ, Inc. has advertised, marketed, distributed, or sold credit repair and funding services to consumers throughout the United States.

  
  For further assistance please contact
  Federal Trade Commission
  600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC 20580
  Telephone: (202) 326-2222
  https://www.ftc.gov
  
  

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