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The �鶹��ý Trade Commission today issued a proposed order requiring Denver-based HomeAdvisor, Inc. – a company affiliated with Angi, formerly known as “Angie’s List” – to pay up to $7.2 million for using a wide range of deceptive and misleading tactics in selling home improvement project leads to service providers, including small businesses operating in the “gig” economy.

The administrative order also bars HomeAdvisor from the deceptive conduct detailed in the Commission’s complaint against the company, which the complaint alleged occurred over many years, and sets up two redress funds to provide money to defrauded service providers. The administrative order will be subject to public comment after which the Commission will decide whether to make the order final.

“Today’s order requires HomeAdvisor to refund home service providers millions of dollars and stop misleading them about the quality of its leads,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Even as the nature of work and the economy change, the FTC will continue to combat dishonest commercial practices aimed at consumers, workers, and small businesses.”

Today’s action is the first announced since the Commission issued its Policy Statement on �鶹��ý Related to Gig Work, which committed the agency to rooting out unfair, deceptive, or anticompetitive practices in the gig economy. It builds on other efforts to protect gig workers and small businesses, including the Commission’s Notice of Penalty Offenses on Money-Making Opportunities, and ANPR on Earnings Claims.

HomeAdvisor, which also does business as Angi Leads and HomeAdvisor Powered by Angi, recruits service providers, such as general contractors and lawn care businesses, to join the company’s network. Once service providers join the network, HomeAdvisor sells them leads, which the service providers use to contact potential customers for home repair and maintenance projects.

Service providers who join HomeAdvisor’s network generally pay an annual membership fee of $287.99, in addition to a separate fee for each lead they receive. As part of their HomeAdvisor membership package, many service providers have also paid an additional $59.99 for an optional one-month subscription to a service called mHelpDesk, which includes software that helps with scheduling appointments and processing payments.

The FTC’s March 2022 administrative complaint against HomeAdvisor charged that since at least mid-2014 it has made false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about the quality and source of the leads the company sells to service providers who are in search of potential customers. For example, the complaint alleged that, while HomeAdvisor has represented that service providers only will receive leads matching the types of services they provide and their preferred geographic area, many of them do not.

The complaint also alleged that HomeAdvisor often tells service providers that its leads result in jobs at rates much higher than it can substantiate. Finally, the complaint alleged that HomeAdvisor’s sales agents misrepresented that the optional one-month mHelpDesk subscription was free.

In addition to requiring that HomeAdvisor pay up to $7.2 million for redress, the proposed order prohibits the company from making any false or misleading claims regarding its leads, including that they concern individuals who are ready to hire a service provider or who submitted a request for home services directly to HomeAdvisor. It also bars HomeAdvisor from misrepresenting its products as free when they are not, or making unsubstantiated claims about the rate at which its leads convert into paying jobs.

The redress program included in the order would administer two separate funds. The first would make payments of up to $30 to service providers affected by HomeAdvisor’s misrepresentations about its lead quality. The second would make payments of up to $59.99 to service providers who were told that the first month of their mHelpDesk subscription was free.

The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent agreement was 4-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the �鶹��ý Register soon. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Instructions for filing comments will appear in the published notice. Comments must be received 30 days after publication in the �鶹��ý Register. Once processed, comments will be posted on Regulations.gov.

NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $50,120.

The lead staff attorney on the HomeAdvisor matter was Sophia H. Calderón of the FTC’s Northwest Region.