Attorney General Charity Clark announced a settlement with Hearing At Home, LLC partially resolving a dispute over alleged violations of Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits unfair methods in commerce and deceptive acts and practices relating to the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids.
Hearing At Home, LLC, which also operates under the brand Nano Hearing Aids, is the successor entity to Nano Hearing Tech Opco, LLC. In January of 2023, the Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit claiming that Nano Hearing Aids, an online marketplace for over-the-counter hearing aids, promoted misleading and deceptive advertisements, misrepresented the design and effectiveness of the products, offered a deceptive online hearing test, sold products under perpetual sales, offered over-the-counter hearing aids to consumers under the age of 18, and failed to disclose promotions which void a consumer’s ability to return a device.
Under the new ownership, Hearing At Home, LLC proactively addressed many of the State’s concerns and came to a settlement agreement for its portion of the lawsuit. As a result, Hearing At Home, LLC, has agreed to the following:
- Establish a restitution fund in the amount of $41,500 for consumers to recoup the purchase price of their devices.
- Pay civil penalties in the amount of $100,000 to the State of Vermont.
Due to the company’s current financial state and their cooperation with the investigation, the establishment of the restitution fund and payment of civil penalties has been suspended until such time as the company has the ability to make payments.
This settlement does not dismiss the case in its entirety and the State will proceed with its enforcement action against Nano Hearing Aids’ previous owners for their violations of the Consumer Protection Act.
A copy of the Consent Judgment can be found here.
CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Outreach and Communications Coordinator, 802-828-3171