Private company
BlueHippo Funding
Defunct American installment credit company
BlueHippo Funding, LLC was an installment credit company operating in the United States founded by Joseph Rensin that claimed to offer personal computers, flat-screen televisions and other high-tech items for sale to customers with poor credit. In an article published November 25, 2009 titled BlueHippo files for bankruptcy: Company blames its bank; was accused of violating settlement with FTC, Eileen Ambrose reported that the company "was forced to file for protection under Chapter 11."2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
Overview
- Industryfinancial services1
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BlueHippo Funding, LLC was an installment credit company operating in the United States founded by Joseph Rensin that claimed to offer personal computers, flat-screen televisions and other high-tech items for sale to customers with poor credit. In an article published November 25, 2009 titled2
Controversies and legal
Criticisms and investigations
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 8,000 pages of complaints and launched an investigation of the company. In February 2008 the FTC settled its grievances with BlueHippo and required the company to pay up to $5,000,000 to settle the FTC's charges. In April 2009, a federal court found BlueHippo in contempt for not issuing reports to the FTC as required by the settlement.
The Maryland Attorney General reached a settlement with Blue Hippo in 2007. Under the terms of the settlement, the company agreed to pay restitution to consumers who overpaid or did not receive their goods.
Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General said, "We think that overall, this is a very deceptive trade practice."
The Tennessee Attorney General filed a civil lawsuit for alleged deceptive practices against BlueHippo companies, as well as proposing an injunction requiring greater disclosures in advertising and prior to obtaining further payments, as well as the freezing of $2.5 million in cash. West Virginia also sued BlueHippo.
A class action lawsuit was filed against BlueHippo in the District Court of Ottawa County State of Oklahoma on January 23, 2007. This case was transferred to the United States District Court Northern District of Oklahoma on March 7, 2007.
As of August 25, 2009 the Better Business Bureau has received over 3950 grievances from all over the United States. "Due to this pattern of complaints and BlueHippo’s failure to correct the underlying causes for the complaints, the company is rated 'unsatisfactory'."
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BlueHippo changed its business practices to include a refund policy in mid-2006. However, the BBB reports: "In November and December 2006, however, the volume of complaints rose again and the BBB has renewed concerns about the effectiveness of the company's efforts to reduce the volume and pattern of complaints. Current complaints allege the company is slow to provide promised refunds and there continue to be delays in delivery of the merchandise." As of January 1, 2007, BlueHippo offers a full refund if customers cancel during the first 7 days. However, any order canceled after the grace period will receive "store credit" only. This store credit will only allow customers to buy items on the company website.
BlueHippo, which applied for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009 after it was no longer willing to cover its bills, subsequently committed to a 2008 deal to reimburse $5 million and changed its procedures to address claims that it had been operating a fraudulent electronic finance scheme. In 2016, the firm was forced to pay $13.4 million in restitution to defrauded customers.
From Wikipedia’s article on BlueHippo Funding, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3
Links
- WikipediaBlueHippo Funding
- WikidataQ4928755
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataBlueHippo Funding on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaBlueHippo Funding on Wikipedia
- 3