FTC v. Impetus, et al
Case Summary
Pursuant to the Court’s Orders entered on November 13, 2018 and November 29, 2018 by the United States District Court, Central District of California, in the matter of the Federal Trade Commission v. Impetus Enterprise, Inc., A California Corporation, Also D/B/A Aiding Student Relief, Aiding Students & Teachers, Aidnest, Avec Staffing, And National Education Student And Teacher; Fig Tree & Co., LLC, A California Limited Liability Company, Also D/B/A Aiding Student Relief, Aiding Students & Teacher, And Aiding Students & Teachers; Tuan Dinh Duong, A/K/A Thomas Duong, A/K/A Thomas Dinh, Individually And As An Officer Of Impetus Enterprise, Inc.; Brenda Avitia-Pena, Individually And As An Officer Of Impetus Enteprise, Inc. And Fig Tree & Co., LLC; And Brian Colombana D/B/A Futero, Individually And As An Officer Of Fig Tree & Co., LLC, Defendants, And Noel Solutions, LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company, Relief Defendant, Krista L. Freitag was appointed Receiver for Impetus Enterprise, Inc. and Fig Tree & Co., LLC, and their subsidiaries, affiliates, successors and assigns, including but not limited to Capital Sun Investments, LLC (d/b/a Studora) and Premier Capital Investments, LLC, (the “Receivership Entities”).
The court orders were requested by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) based on alleged violations of federal laws and regulations. The FTC’s complaint and the court’s orders can be found below.
Operations relating to the companies including those commonly known as Studora, Aidnest, Avec-Staffing, US Debt Relief and IDR Education have been suspended for an indefinite period of time. Therefore, if you are a customer of any of the foregoing, it is imperative that you contact your lender or loan servicer directly as the Receivership Entities are no longer able to provide any services relating to your student loan(s) or any possible modification of your student loan(s). Failure to do so could have serious adverse consequences regarding your student loan repayment or pending modification thereof.
Please note that consumers can apply for the various student loan repayment and forgiveness or discharge programs through the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) or their student loan servicers at no cost; these programs do not require the assistance of a third-party company or payment of application fees.
If you are in need of assistance, you should first speak directly to your lender or servicer as to what services they may provide. We also strongly recommend that you seek information about available student loan modification programs from the USDE at (800) 872-5327 or at USDE’s website: https://www2.ed.gov/fund/grants-college.html?src=pn.
At this time, we do not have any definitive information regarding possible refunds of amounts customers may have paid to Receivership Entities or amounts that may be available to other creditors. However, we recommend that you visit the receivership website provided above to sign up, at the bottom of the page, for periodic updates on the case. You may also call us at (619) 326-4334, however, please note that we are not able to answer questions specific to your account in any way.
We will respond to questions as soon as possible, but please understand that there are many time-sensitive issues in this case; therefore, we appreciate your patience.
Please direct any further inquiries to Impetus@ethreeadvisors.com.
Case Updates
On October 22, 2020, the Court issued an Order (1) Granting Receiver’s Motion to Concluded Receivership (Doc. 136), and (2) Approving Final Fee Applications b Receiver and Receiver’s Counsel (Docs. 137, 138). As such the receivership has been terminated and correspondence will no longer be actively monitored. A copy of said Order is posted at the bottom of this page for your reference.
Court Filings
Filings listed in the sections below link to PDF documents.
2018 Court Filings
- 11/13/2018 – Complaint for Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief
- 11/13/2018 – Ex Parte Temporary Restraining Order with Asset Freeze, Appointment of a Temporary Receiver, and Other Equitable Relief, and Order to Show Cause Why a Preliminary Injunction Should Not Issue
- 11/20/2018 – Receiver’s First Report and Recommendations
- 11/29/2018 – Preliminary Injunction with Asset Freeze, Appointment of Receiver, and Other Equitable Relief
2019 Court Filings
- 01/14/2019 – Receiver’s Second Interim Report
- 01/29/2019 – Notice of Hearing on Interim Fee Applications of Krista L. Freitag, Receiver and her Professionals for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 01/29/2019 – First Interim Fee Application of Krista L. Freitag, Court-Appointed Receiver, for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 01/29/2019 – First Interim Fee Application of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP, General Counsel to the Receiver for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 04/02/2019 – Superseding Second Preliminary Injunction with Asset Freeze, Appointment of Receiver, and Other Equitable Relief
- 04/03/2019 – First Amended Complaint for Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief
- 04/05/2019 – Statement of Receiver’s Qualifications and Rates: Supporting Declaration of Krista L. Freitag
- 04/29/2019 – Receiver’s Third Interim Report
- 05/02/2019 – Notice of Hearing on Interim Fee Applications of Krista L. Freitag, Receiver and Her Professionals for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 05/02/2019 – Second Interim Fee Application of Krista L. Freitag, Court-Appointed Receiver, for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 05/02/2019 – Second Interim Fee Application of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis, LLP, General Counsel to the Receiver, for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 06/06/2019 – Order (1) Granting Receiver’s Second Interim Application for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses, and (2) Granting Receiver’s Counsel’s Second Interim Application for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 07/31/2019 – Receiver’s Fourth Interim Report
- 07/31/2019 – Notice of Hearing on Interim Fee Applications of Krista L. Freitag, Receiver and Her Professionals for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 07/31/2019 – Third Interim Fee Application of Krista L. Freitag, Court-Appointed Receiver, for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 07/31/2019 – Third Interim Fee Application of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis, LLP, General Counsel to the Receiver, for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 09/25/2019 – Order (1) Approving Receiver’s Third Interim Application for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses, and (2) Approving Receiver’s Counsel’s Third Interim Application for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 06/27/2020 – Notice of Motion and Motion to Conclude Receivership and for Order: (1) Approving Final Accounting and Report; (2) Approving Disposition/Transfer of Books and Records; and (3) Discharging Receiver; Receiver’s Final Accounting and Report
- 06/29/2020 – Notice of Hearing on Final Fee Applications of Krista L. Freitag, Receiver and her Professionals for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 06/29/2020 – Final Fee Application of Krista L. Freitag, Court-Appointed Receiver, for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 06/29/2020 – Final Fee Application of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory and Natsis LLP, General Counsel to the Receiver for Payment of Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses
- 10/22/2020 – (In Chambers) Order (1) Granting Receiver’s Motion to Concluded Receivership
(Doc. 136), and (2) Approving Final Fee Applications by Receiver and Receiver’s Counsel
(Docs. 137, 138)
Krista L. Freitag
Principal