Financial Education Services Settlement: Refund Checks and Deadline

The FTC began mailing refund checks from the Financial Education Services settlement in March 2026, sending more than $10.9 million to 443,048 people who paid FES, United Wealth Education, or United Wealth Services for credit repair between May 2019 and May 2022.¹

Who Is Getting a Check

The refunds go to consumers who paid Financial Education Services, United Wealth Education, or United Wealth Services between May 2019 and May 2022.² If you were a customer during that window, you should not need to file a claim. The FTC identified recipients from company records and is mailing checks directly.

How Much the Check Will Be

The total pool of $10.9 million split across 443,048 recipients works out to roughly $25 per person. That is a fraction of what most customers paid — FES charged a $99 sign-up fee plus up to $89 a month.³ The FTC could only distribute what it collected from the defendants, and while the court entered a $324 million judgment, only about $12 million was actually recovered.⁴

Cash the Check Within 90 Days

Recipients have 90 days from the date printed on the check to cash it. After that window, the check will no longer be valid.¹

How to Know the Check Is Real

The checks are legitimate. The FTC has warned that it will never ask anyone to pay money, hand over bank account information, or transfer funds in order to receive a refund. If someone contacts you claiming you must pay a fee or verify your account to release the money, it is a scam.¹

Questions About Your Check

The refund administrator is Analytics Consulting LLC. You can reach them at 833-699-7995 or by email at FES@refundadministrator.com with questions about eligibility, a check that hasn’t arrived, or a check that was lost or damaged.¹

Why the FTC Shut FES Down

The FTC sued Financial Education Services in May 2022, accusing the Michigan-based company of taking more than $213 million from consumers through a credit repair pyramid scheme.³ The Credit Repair Organizations Act prohibits charging upfront fees for credit repair before the work is finished, and the FTC said FES had done exactly that.⁵

The FTC also said the credit repair service itself was largely worthless. The company gave customers form letters to send to credit bureaus that rarely produced results, and some customers saw their scores drop. A rent-payment reporting product that FES said would boost scores did not work as advertised, because credit bureaus generally do not factor in rent data submitted directly by consumers.³

In August 2024, the court entered stipulated final orders imposing permanent lifetime bans on the individual defendants from the credit repair industry and from operating any multi-level marketing or pyramid scheme. The defendants did not admit wrongdoing.⁶⁴

Could There Be More Money Later

The $324 million judgment against the defendants was largely suspended, with about $12 million collected and $312 million held in reserve. If the FTC finds that the defendants hid assets or misrepresented their finances, it can ask the court to reinstate the full amount, which could open the door to additional recovery for consumers.⁴ The case remains listed as pending on the FTC’s docket, and the named defendants stay under compliance monitoring.⁷