CFPAU OMBUDSMAN
Our CFPAU Ombudsman’s Office is an independent, impartial, and confidential resource to help you informally resolve and process issues arising from scams and frauds after you have contacted the appropriate authorities.
Often another voice advocating for you and reporting inactions or non-responses from Utah State and National agencies will help assist a victim in obtaining justice. Also, we can encourage professionals that have ripped off victims to resolve and make right their harm to the victims so that we can remove their complaint from our investigation and website.
We won’t libel or defame others or be used “to get even” for complainants.
Only after a careful and detailed review of documents that substantiate the truth of fraud claims, we can post victim’s truthful experiences with our opinion about it, and contact appropriate agencies and others in an effort to have actions taken for the complaint to be resolved. We don’t keep an online record of past resolved cases, and we must select those cases we choose to serve very judiciously and work with just a few as we have time with our volunteer staff.
Dishonest professionals forget this is the age of the consumer. Consumers have legal rights, some established by President John F. Kennedy, additional rights in the 1980s,, and recently the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016.
With the arrival of the Internet, victims can post honest truthful reviews of their experiences in their social media and at numerous consumer & review websites such as ours, YELP, BBB, Angie’s List, Facebook, Trip Advisor, ect.. At the same time, we are also in a period of “consumer beware” when consumers should do searches and read reviews of potential service professionals, companies, and products that they plan to use.
The Consumer Review Fairness Act protects consumers’ ability to share their honest opinions about a business’s products, services, or conduct in any forum – and that includes social media. The FTC provides has tips to help your company comply with the law.
Congress gave enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission and the state Attorneys General. The law specifies that a violation of the CRFA will be treated the same as violating an FTC rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice. This means that your company could be subject to financial penalties, as well as a federal court order.
Companies must in order to comply with this legislation:
- Review their contracts, including online terms and conditions; and
- Remove provisions that restrict consumers from sharing their honest reviews, or penalizes those who do.
- Best Policy: Let people speak honestly about your products and their experience with your company.
Please complete this form as it allows us to work for you and act as an early warning system and hopefully serve as a catalyst for change.
