Published by Jethro Adedeji, CEO, Crowned Credit | March 2026
If you’ve been following financial news this week, you may have seen this headline: the Federal Trade Commission is sending out over $10.9 million in refund checks to more than 443,000 consumers who were harmed by a credit repair company called Financial Education Services (FES) — also known as United Wealth Services, United Wealth Education, and United Credit Education Services.
This is one of the largest credit repair enforcement actions in U.S. history, and it matters — whether or not you were an FES customer.
Let me break down exactly what happened, what it means, and what you should do if you’re worried about your own credit repair company.
What Happened With Financial Education Services (FES)?
FES was a Michigan-based credit repair company that operated since at least 2015. On the surface, it looked like any other credit repair service: they promised to remove negative items from your credit report, increase your score by hundreds of points, and fix your credit fast.
The problem? According to the FTC’s 2022 lawsuit, almost none of it worked — and in many cases, their techniques actually made clients’ credit scores worse.
Here’s what FES was doing wrong:
1. Charging illegal upfront fees
Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), credit repair companies cannot charge you before services are rendered. FES charged $99 upfront — a direct violation of federal law. They then charged up to $89/month for services that rarely delivered results.
2. Making false promises
They claimed they could remove any negative item from your credit report — including accurate, legitimate items — through disputed letters to credit bureaus. The FTC found this was largely ineffective and deceptive.
3. Running a pyramid scheme
This is where it got really bad. FES pushed customers to become “agents” and recruit others, promising earnings of over $1,000/week. The compensation structure had all the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme — most people lost money.
4. Hiding their cancellation and refund policies
Federal law (CROA) requires credit repair companies to clearly provide cancellation rights and refund policies. FES regularly failed to do this.
The result: FES bilked more than $213 million from consumers before the FTC shut them down. The 2024 settlement resulted in permanent bans for the owners. And just this month — March 2026 — the FTC began sending $10.9 million in refund checks to 443,048 victims.
If you received a check from the FTC refund administrator (Analytics, 1-833-699-7995), cash it within 90 days.
What Does This Mean for You?
First: this is not an isolated incident. The credit repair industry has a long history of bad actors. The FTC has also shut down The Credit Game, Growth Cave’s Apex Mind operation, and dozens of others in recent years.
If you’re currently working with a credit repair company, now is the time to ask hard questions.
5 Ways to Tell If Your Credit Repair Company Is Legit
The law is actually very clear about what credit repair companies can and cannot do. Here’s your checklist:
✅ 1. They never charge upfront
CROA prohibits any payment before services are fully rendered. If a company asks for money before doing anything, that’s a federal violation. Walk away.
✅ 2. They give you a written contract
You are legally entitled to a written contract that outlines the services, timeline, total cost, and your cancellation rights before you sign anything.
✅ 3. They tell you about your right to cancel
You have three business days to cancel any credit repair contract, no questions asked. Legit companies will tell you this clearly.
✅ 4. They don’t promise specific results
No credit repair company can legally guarantee they’ll remove accurate, verified negative items from your report. If someone promises you a 200-point jump or “clean slate” guaranteed — that’s a red flag.
✅ 5. They don’t ask you to dispute accurate information
Disputing legitimate, accurate negative marks is fraud. Real credit repair focuses on identifying and disputing *inaccurate, unverifiable, or outdated* information — which is your legal right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
What Is CROA, and Why Does It Matter?
The Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) is a federal law that specifically governs credit repair companies. It was designed to protect consumers from exactly the kind of fraud FES committed. Key provisions:
Violations of CROA can result in federal lawsuits, massive fines, and permanent bans. This is why we build our entire process around CROA compliance — not as a checkbox, but because it’s the right thing to do.
How Crowned Credit Is Different
I started Crowned Credit because I watched people in my community get ripped off by exactly the kind of operation the FTC just shut down. Here’s how we operate:
No upfront fees. We charge after we deliver. Our clients pay a setup fee only after they’ve reviewed and signed their contract, and monthly fees only while services are actively being rendered.
Complete transparency. Every client gets a full written contract, explicit cancellation rights, and direct access to their dispute progress through our client portal.
We only dispute what’s legally disputable. We focus on inaccurate, unverifiable, and outdated items — not legitimate negative marks. If it’s accurate, we tell you that and show you the legal path forward.
No pyramid schemes. No MLM. No recruiter pressure. We’re a credit repair company. That’s it. We don’t make money from you recruiting other people.
4.9 stars across our reviews. Our reputation is built on real results for real clients — not recruiting new “agents.”
What If You Were an FES Customer?
If you paid FES for credit repair services, you may be eligible for a refund. The FTC is sending checks to 443,048 consumers — make sure to watch for a check from Analytics (the FTC refund administrator) and cash it within 90 days.
You can also contact the refund administrator directly:
For your credit situation: if FES’s work didn’t help (or made things worse), we’re here. Book a free consultation at getcrownedcredit.com — we’ll review your report and show you exactly what we can do.
The Bottom Line
The FTC shutting down FES and sending refunds to 443,000 people is a reminder: not all credit repair is the same. The industry has bad actors — but it also has companies doing it the right way.
Know your rights under CROA. Ask the hard questions before you sign. And if a company is promising the moon with no contract and upfront fees — run.
We built Crowned Credit to be the answer to this problem. And we’ll keep earning that trust, one client at a time.
— Jethro Adedeji
*CEO, Crowned Credit | Greensboro, NC*
*getcrownedcredit.com*
*Sources: FTC Press Release, March 2026 — “FTC Sends More Than $10.9 Million to Consumers Harmed by Credit Repair Pyramid Scheme.” FTC Complaint against Financial Education Services, May 2022.*
