Under the Rule, it's illegal to misrepresent, either expressly or by implication, any "material aspect" of your services. That includes any information that's likely to affect a consumer's decision to use your service or choose one service over another. Here are some examples of claims that would be material:
• the likelihood of negotiating, getting, or arranging a specific form of mortgage relief;
• how long it will take to get the advertised mortgage relief;
• an affiliation with the government, public programs, or lenders or servicers;
• the terms and conditions of homeowners' mortgages, including how much they currently have to pay;
• your refund and cancellation policies;
• whether homeowners will be getting legal services;
• the benefits and costs of using alternatives to for-profit MARS providers;
• the amount homeowners may save if they use your service;
• the total cost of your service; and
• the terms, conditions, or limitations of a lender or servicer's offer of mortgage relief, including how much time the homeowner has to accept the offer.
In addition, if you make claims about the benefits, performance, or efficacy of your services, your statements must be truthful and you must have competent and reliable evidence to back them up. So, for example, if you make claims about how much your customers will save – like "We can reduce your mortgage payments by 20% to 50%" – your claims must accurately reflect the results you've achieved for previous customers. Similarly, if you claim that your customers have reduced their mortgage debt by "up to 50%," it's likely you're conveying to new customers that they, too, will get savings of around 50%. If you don't have solid proof to back up that claim, your claim is considered deceptive.
Beyond requiring that your claims are truthful, the Rule makes it illegal to tell a customer or potential customer to stop communicating with their lender or servicer.
For more information, see the MARS Rule here: www.ftc.gov/os/fedreg/2010/december/R911003mars.pdf
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