via Reuters.com
By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters.com,
August 20, 2015
U.S. regulators on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing two companies of preying on retirees and military veterans by advancing high-cost loans disguised as pension advances, jeopardizing victims’ retirement savings.
The lawsuit against Pension Funding LLC and Pension Income LLC was brought by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the New York State Department of Financial Services.
It accused the California-base companies and their principals of duping older Americans, mainly through online pitches, from 2011 through last December into redirecting pension checks over eight years in exchange for upfront cash.
Regulators said the companies claimed their advances lacked the borrowing costs associated with credit cards or home equity lines of credit, and advertised that “OUR PROGRAM IS NOT A LOAN.”