Online companies misled consumers

Two online companies that offer placement assistance to people in need of long-term institutional care agreed to not misrepresent their services in the future, the Federal Trade Commission said this week. The FTC alleged that CarePatrol Inc. , an Arizona company, and ABCSP Inc., doing business as Always Best Care, "misled customers to think that they had researched the facilities and had detailed knowledge about them." One claim made by ABCSP, a California company that offered placements nationwide, stated: "Our Care Coordinators are local and have personally viewed virtually all of the assisted living communities in your area," the FTC said. There are at least 39,000 assisted living facilities in the United States, the FTC said. Read the FTC complaint against CarePatrol here. Read the FTC complaint against Always Best Care here.