Opioid Settlement
Arizona is entitled to funds received through consent judgments against several pharmaceutical companies for their roles in the opioid crisis. These judgments will provide Arizona with more than $1.1 billion over the next 18 years for opioid treatment, prevention and education. The state will receive roughly $502 million, and the remainder will go directly to counties, cities and towns.
APS Settlement
The Attorney General's Office secured an agreement with Arizona Public Service Company (APS) in February 2021, providing $24 million for approximately 225,000 APS consumers who were not on their most economical rate plan for electric utility service. The settlement resolves a lawsuit alleging APS' consumer educaton and outreach rate plan camparison tool was flawed. APS agreed to provide $24 million for certain residential customers. Eligible consumers include those who, as of March 2020, were not on their most economical plan and could have saved an estimated $120 or more per year on a different rate plan. Copy of complaint here.
CUSO - ITT Settlement
The Attorney General’s Office secured an agreement to obtain $3,980,230.28 in debt relief for 412 former ITT Tech students in Arizona as part of a multistate settlement with Student CU Connect CUSO, LLC (CUSO), which offered loans to finance students’ tuition at ITT Tech, a failed for-profit college. The settlement holds CUSO accountable for its participation with ITT in subjecting ITT students to abusive lending practices.
As a result of a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general, CUSO has agreed that it will forego collection of the outstanding loans. Under the settlement’s Redress Plan, CUSO’s loan servicer will send notices to borrowers about the cancelled debt and ensure that automatic payments are cancelled. The settlement also requires CUSO to supply Credit Reporting Agencies with information to update credit information for affected student borrowers that defaulted on loans. Read the full settlement agreement.
Theranos, Inc.
In April 2017, Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that his office obtained a full refund for every Arizonan who purchased a Theranos blood test. Theranos, Inc. agreed to pay $4.65 million in consumer restitution as part of a consent judgment reached with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Restitution payments were distributed to eligible consumers in December 2017 and the settlement is closed. Read the full settlement agreement.
Volkswagen
In May 2018, the Arizona Attorney General and the VW Group of America and other VW-related entities reached a settlement that relates to the marketing, advertising, selling, and leasing of certain “clean diesel” vehicles for model years 2009-2016. In the settlement, Volkswagen agreed to pay $10,593,000 to Arizona consumers. Restitution payments were distributed to eligible consumers and the settlement is closed. Read the full settlement agreement.
Consumer fraud, as defined by Arizona law, is any deception, unfair act or practice, false statement, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation made by a seller or advertiser of merchandise. In addition, concealment, suppression or failure to disclose a material fact may be consumer fraud if it is done with the intent that others rely on such concealment, suppression or nondisclosure. Merchandise may include any objects, wares, goods, commodities, intangibles, real estate or services.
If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you may file a consumer complaint. For consumer inquiries, or to request a complaint form, call (602) 542-5763 (Phoenix), (520) 628-6648 (Tucson), or toll-free outside of metro Phoenix, (800) 352-8431.