[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6715-6717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02376]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132 3262]


Finance Select, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid 
Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 3, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fastcashpawnconsent/ online or on paper, 
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Finance Select, Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323262'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fastcashpawnconsent/ by following the instructions on the Web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Finance 
Select, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323262'' on your comment and 
on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, 
Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Wong, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202) 326-3779, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for January 30, 2015), on the World Wide Web, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before March 3, 2015. 
Write ``Finance

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Select, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323262'' on your comment. 
Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, 
on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to 
remove individuals' home contact information from comments before 
placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fastcashpawnconsent/ by following the instructions on the Web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Finance Select, Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323262'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before March 3, 2015. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent 
order from Finance Select, Inc. The proposed consent order has been 
placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of 
comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period 
will become part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the FTC 
will again review the agreement and the comments received, and will 
decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take 
appropriate action or make final the agreement's proposed order.
    The respondent is a car title loan company. According to the FTC 
complaint, respondent has advertised its loans with advertisements that 
broadly state that the title loans are available for ``1st 30 Days 
0%.'' In much smaller print, these advertisements state ``New Customers 
Only.'' However, respondent's advertisements fail to disclose that 
unless the loan is completely repaid in 30 days, the 0% offer does not 
apply and there is a significant finance charge. If a consumer does not 
repay the loan in full in 30 days, he or she would then be required to 
pay the finance charge for the first 30 days in addition to any 
additional finance charges incurred on day 31 (to start the second 30-
day period). The advertisements also fail to disclose the amount of the 
finance charge after expiration of the 30-day introductory period. The 
proposed complaint alleges that these material omissions constitute a 
deceptive act or practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
    The proposed order is designed to prevent the respondent from 
engaging in similar deceptive practices in the future. Part I prohibits 
the respondent from stating an introductory or temporary finance charge 
without disclosing, clearly and conspicuously, the finance charge after 
the introductory or temporary period ends; or the full effect of 
failing to make a timely complete repayment of the loan within the 
introductory or temporary time period. Respondent must further disclose 
all qualifying terms associated with obtaining the loan at its 
advertised rate, including but not limited to, minimum loan 
requirements, new customer requirements, and any other material term; 
all costs associated with obtaining the loan, including but not limited 
to transaction costs. Respondent also cannot misrepresent registration 
costs or fees, recording costs or fees, and title fees; and respondent 
cannot misrepresent any other material fact about the terms of the 
loan.
    Parts II through VI of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part II is an order distribution provision that 
requires respondent to provide the order to current and future 
principals, officers, directors, and managers and to all current 
employees, agents, and representatives having responsibilities with 
respect to the advertisement of consumer credit. Part III of the 
proposed order requires respondent to maintain and upon request make 
available to the Commission certain compliance-related records, 
including all advertisements and also consumer complaints and records 
that demonstrate compliance with the proposed order for a period of 
five years. Part IV requires respondent to notify the Commission of 
corporate changes that may affect compliance obligations within 30 days 
of such a change. Part V requires respondent to submit a compliance 
report to the Commission 60 days after entry of the order, and also 
additional compliance reports within 10 business days of a written 
request by the Commission. Part VI ``sunsets'' the order after 20 
years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an

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official interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to 
modify in any way the proposed order's terms.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-02376 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P