Michigan company to issue refunds, stop illegal business filing solicitations under agreement with Colorado Department of Law

June 3, 2024 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser today announced a settlement with ANS Inc., a Michigan-based company doing business in Colorado as Workplace Compliance Services that illegally solicited Colorado businesses using advertising that lacked required legal disclaimers. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will issue refunds to affected consumers and will include correct disclaimers on future ads.

The company, which charges businesses $150 to file periodic reports required by the secretary of state, assured Department of Law attorneys that it has already refunded $7,000 to 50 businesses. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will refund an additional $11,900 to 85 more businesses.

While it is legal to send solicitations offering to file documents with the secretary of state’s office on a client’s behalf, these ads must contain a disclaimer in at least 24-point font explaining to recipients that it is not coming from or on behalf of a government agency, and that businesses are not required to pay or otherwise act on the offer.

“Colorado business owners shouldn’t have to look at a piece of mail with a magnifying glass to determine if a document they receive is a legitimate bill or other official communication, or an ad,” Weiser said. “With this action, we are returning thousands of dollars back to business owners and ensuring that future ads have the proper disclaimers to reduce confusion.”

In addition to the required refunds, Workplace Compliance Services will provide a report of all refunds issued, will submit future ads to the Department of Law for review, and will pay an additional $7,000 for reasonable costs related to the state’s investigation. Workplace Compliance Services cooperated with state attorneys during the investigation and made several changes to its business practices while the investigation was pending that are now binding requirements in this settlement.

“I was proud to lead the new law that makes it illegal for third-party fraudsters to trick Colorado business owners into paying artificially high business renewal fees,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “I will always work to make owning a business easier, and look forward to continued partnership with the Attorney General’s Office on holding bad actors accountable.”

Coloradans who receive deceptive ads in the mail, or see them anywhere else, are encouraged to file a complaint with the attorney general at StopFraudColorado.gov.

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