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CFPB to distribute more than $22 million to consumers harmed by Burlington Financial Group’s debt relief and credit repair scams

This month, 6,523 people who were misled by Burlington Financial Group with false promises that it would eliminate their credit-card debts and improve their credit scores will receive a check in the mail. Burlington Financial Group was a Maryland-based debt-relief and credit-repair company that marketed and sold debt-relief and credit-repair services to people nationwide from January 2016 until at least September 2019 and collected fees from them until at least August 2020.

Most customers will automatically receive a refund check. Payments will be sent on May 5, 2023, through Epiq Systems. If you believe you are eligible and do not receive a check, you can submit a claim for a refund at cfpb-burlington.org .

If you receive a refund check for less than the amount you paid Burlington Financial Group, you may be eligible for additional funds. You can submit a claim for the additional amount at cfpb-burlington.org . For additional questions, email Burlington_info@cfpbconsumerprotection.org or call 1-800-507-6157.

Action against Burlington Financial Group

In 2021, the federal district court entered a stipulated final judgment and order against Burlington Financial Group and its owners and executives, Richard Burnham, Katherine Burnham, and Sang Yi, for deceiving consumers into hiring the company with false promises to lower or eliminate their credit-card debts and to improve their credit scores.

Burlington Financial Group violated consumer financial protection law through deceptive marketing and operating practices. The company advertised to potential customers, through direct mailers and third-party lead generators, that its so-called “debt validation” program used a legally vetted process to eliminate debt.

The CFPB’s investigation found that the company failed to produce any evidence showing that it had invalidated, eliminated, or lowered any of its customers’ debts. Additionally, Burlington Financial Group told customers that it could restore their credit scores, but the CFPB’s investigation found that these claims were false or unsubstantiated.

Learn more about the case and redress payments

As of this week, $22.3 million has been distributed to Burlington Financial Group’s harmed customers. The CFPB allocated more than $30.4 million to the victims in this case, and the money will come from the CFPB’s victims relief fund.

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