Dive Brief:

• Online mortgage lead generator Intermundo Media, LLC has agreed to pay $500,000 in fines to the Federal Trade Commission after running deceptive ads. 
• The ads featured “Delta Prime Refinance” and claimed homeowners could refinance mortgages for free— a falsehood —to attract leads it then sold to mortgage firms. 
• The deceptive ads were run on Google, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, and on the lead generator's own site. The multiple false claims were in violation of the Truth in Lending Act. 

Dive Insight: 

It seems that the lead generator thought the Truth in Lending and FTC advertising guidelines didn't apply to them since the firm wasn't actually refinancing mortgages—only gathering leads. The fine shows that advertisers will be accountable for deceptive ads, regardless of the industry or intent.