Commonwealth Equity Group, LLC (d/b/a Key Credit Repair); Nikitas Tsoukales (a/k/a Nikitas Tsoukalis)
On May 22, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey jointly filed a lawsuit against Commonwealth Equity Group, LLC, which does business as Key Credit Repair, and Nikitas Tsoukales (also known as Nikitas Tsoukalis), Key Credit Repair’s president and owner. As alleged in the complaint, from 2016 through 2019 alone, Key Credit Repair enrolled nearly 40,000 consumers nationwide, and since 2011, it collected at least $23 million in fees from consumers. The Bureau alleges that in their telemarketing of credit-repair services, the defendants violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (CFPA) prohibition against deceptive acts or practices and the Telemarketing Sales Rule’s (TSR) prohibitions on deceptive and abusive telemarketing acts or practices. Massachusetts also alleges violations of Massachusetts laws. The complaint seeks redress to consumers, an injunction, and the imposition of civil money penalties.