BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden Thursday announced a resolution of the state’s legal action against US Registration, Inc. and former operator Travis Hopkins.
Hopkins operated US Registration, which sold transportation compliance services through unlawful telephone solicitations, according to a news release from Wasden’s office.
“As a result of a recent settlement, Hopkins is permanently banned from the telemarketing industry in Idaho and must pay a civil penalty of $15,000. US Registration, previously based in Boise, is also permanently dissolved,” the release said.
“This resolution concludes a three-year history of my Consumer Protection Division dealing with Mr. Hopkins and his failures to comply with Idaho law,” Wasden stated. “It’s past time for him to face the consequences of his actions.”
In 2016, Wasden entered into a settlement with US Registration that required the company to register with the Office of the Attorney General as a telephone solicitor. The company, however, did not do so. It also allegedly continued to make deceptive representations to potential customers about its affiliation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the release said.
Based on the new alleged violations, attorneys in Wasden’s Consumer Protection Division filed a lawsuit against US Registration and Hopkins in March, 2017. A resolution of the lawsuit required US Registration to cease telemarketing operations and required Hopkins to stop any unsupervised telemarketing. Both stipulations applied for five years. “However, US Registration continued to operate with Hopkins acting as the company’s president and sole shareholder,” Wasden pointed out.
In November, 2018, the Attorney General reopened its 2017 action against Hopkins and his company. As a result, the office obtained a judgment against US Registration in April 2019. The judgment permanently dissolved US Registration’s corporate status and voided all telephone solicitation contracts the company entered into since January 1, 2017.
The office also reached a settlement with Hopkins that lays out the lifetime telemarketing ban and the $15,000 civil penalty. Canyon County District Judge Gene Petty approved the settlement on December 3, 2019.
