Care.com Lawsuit: $8.5M FTC Settlement and Refunds

The Care.com lawsuit most people are searching for is the Federal Trade Commission’s 2024 case accusing the caregiver marketplace of inflating job listings, advertising pay figures it could not support, and making subscriptions nearly impossible to cancel. Care.com agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle the charges, and in June 2025 the FTC began sending more than $8.1 million in refunds to roughly 194,000 consumers who paid for the service.{¹} The complaint and stipulated consent order were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on August 26, 2024, and Judge Robert Pitman signed the final order on August 30, 2024.{²}

What Care.com Was Accused of Doing

The FTC brought three sets of claims under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. All five commissioners voted to authorize the case.{³}

Jobs That Weren’t Really Jobs

Anyone could create a free “basic” account on Care.com and post a job. But to actually message a caregiver, the poster needed a paid premium membership, and most basic posters never upgraded. Caregivers paid for their own subscriptions and then applied to listings where the person on the other end could not see, let alone hire them.{⁴} The site described these openings as jobs available “right now.”{³}

Between January 2019 and March 2022, 4.7 million job postings on the platform, or 56 percent of all postings, came from basic members who never made a single hire.{⁴} Users routinely complained about applying and never hearing back.{³}

Pay Claims With Nothing Behind Them

Care.com advertised specific hourly and weekly wages to attract caregivers, but according to the FTC the company did not track what families and caregivers actually agreed to pay each other once they connected. The numbers had no real data behind them.{³}

In one 2021 campaign the company promoted “Childcare jobs from $18/hr,” while its own website at the same time showed the national average babysitting rate at $13 to $14.25 per hour. The claims were pitched as national figures despite substantial regional differences in pay.{⁴} The FTC noted that the company kept advertising this way even after receiving a formal FTC penalty-offense notice about earnings claims in 2021.{³}

A Cancellation Process Designed to Fail

Signing up took a few clicks. Canceling, the FTC said, took six pages. Users first had to locate a hidden cancellation link, then work through at least four exit points steering them away, three questionnaires, two warnings about losing benefits, and offers to switch to a different paid plan. The “continue to cancel” button was visually de-emphasized against the options that kept the subscription active.{⁵}{⁶}

According to the FTC, Care.com’s own staff had internally labeled at least one piece of this flow a “Dark UX Pattern,” and tens of thousands of consumers had complained that cancellation simply failed, leaving them billed after they thought they had ended the subscription.{⁷}

What the Settlement Requires

Beyond the $8.5 million payment, the consent order imposes ongoing rules on how Care.com can advertise and operate:

Any advertised earnings figures must be truthful and backed by real data.
The company can only promote job numbers that reflect postings from users who can actually hire.
Before collecting payment, Care.com must explain how the site’s communication features work.
Cancellation must be at least as easy as signup, and available through the same channels the customer used to subscribe.{}{}³⁵

Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the order “puts a stop to these unlawful practices, returns millions of dollars to consumers, and helps ensure an honest marketplace for families looking for care and caregivers looking for work.”{³}

Who Got Refunds and How

On June 24, 2025, the FTC announced it was distributing more than $8.1 million to 194,207 consumers, including both job seekers and job posters who had paid for Care.com services during the relevant period.{¹}

You did not need to file a claim. The FTC identified eligible consumers on its own and sent payments either by check, which must be cashed within 90 days, or by PayPal, which must be accepted within 30 days.{} If you think you should have received a payment and did not, or you have questions about a check or PayPal transfer, the refund administrator is Epiq Systems, reachable at 1-888-867-6151.{⁸}

What Care.com Said in Response

Care.com did not admit wrongdoing. In a statement issued the day the settlement was announced, the company said the agreement “is in no way a validation of the FTC’s claims” and “requires no material change in how Care.com serves those who use its platform.” The company said it was “fully prepared to litigate” but settled to keep its focus on customers.{⁹}

On the specifics, Care.com described its free basic tier as a standard “try before you buy” feature, denied inflating statistics, and said its published earnings figures reflected what families offered to pay rather than any guarantee. The company also said cancellation instructions were available in confirmation emails, the help center, and through 24-hour customer support chat, and that it had “further streamlined” the cancellation process.{⁹} A company spokesperson separately said the FTC had chosen to “attack trusted businesses who are part of the solution” during a strained period for the care economy.{⁷}

A Separate Case Over Background Checks

The FTC action is not the only lawsuit Care.com is facing. In Martin v. Care.com (No. 1-25-0913), an Illinois family alleged that the company’s marketing of its “CareCheck” background screening was misleading because the process did not actually check for histories of child abuse or neglect. The family said they hired a nanny through the site who allegedly caused serious injuries to their infant son, and a later investigation revealed the nanny had prior child abuse allegations in another state.

In December 2025, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a trial court dismissal and allowed the family’s consumer fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims to proceed. The court held that the claims rested on Care.com’s own marketing statements about its screening product, not on the company’s role hosting user content, so Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act did not shield it.{¹⁰} The case is still pending, and it is separate from the FTC settlement: the refunds distributed in 2025 relate only to the deceptive earnings, job-listing, and cancellation claims, not to background-check issues.

1
FTC. FTC Sends More Than $8.1 Million to Consumers Harmed by Care.com
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FTC. Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction, Monetary Judgment, and Other Relief
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FTC. FTC Takes Action Against Care.com for Deceiving Caregivers
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The 19th. Care.com Misled Caregivers and Families and Made It Impossible to Cancel, the FTC Claims
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Customer Experience Dive. FTC Cracks Down on Subscription Traps
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Home Health Care News. FTC Targets Care.com for Unlawful Practices, Orders $8.5M Refund
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Courthouse News Service. Federal Trade Commission Announces Over $8 Million Payout From Online Caregiver Marketplace
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FTC. Care.com Refunds
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Care.com. Care.com Response to FTC Agreement
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Illinois Courts. Martin v. Care.com, 2025 IL App (1st) 250913-U