The Colorado Attorney General and District Attorneys can impose a civil penalty of up to $20,000 per violation. Each consumer involved represents a separate violation, and there are more penalties for violations that affect older adults. ColoPA does not include a private right of action. The FTC can seek injunctive relief and, in some cases, damages and remedies. In particular, the FTC cannot receive fines for first violations of ftc law. (Congress gave the FTC the power to seek fines for violating certain rules, such as the COPPA Rule and the CAN-SPAM Rule.) With respect to injunctive relief, the FTC has requested remedies such as behavioral prohibitions, mandatory consumer notices, data deletion, third-party assessments of practices, monitoring stations, corrective disclosures, required credit monitoring, testing necessary to support claims, and other forms of facilitation. Under the ftC Act, consumers have no private right of action; However, attorneys general have their own prohibitions against unfair and deceptive practices. They often work with the FTC on cases and issues. They also have independent powers to enforce certain FTC rules such as CAN-SPAM and COPPA. They can seek similar redress, although attorneys general can typically impose fines for violations of their state`s laws that prohibit unfair or deceptive practices. Financial; Standardizes the disclosure required for certain consumer credit transactions, such as mortgages.
15 USC § 1604. The Fair Credit Reporting Act was passed in 1970 to regulate the collection of credit information, which is often used to determine mortgage and loan interest rates. The law restricts who can access a consumer`s credit history and prohibits lenders from providing outdated or inaccurate information. The law also allows consumers to read their own credit reports and challenge inaccurate information. The Highway Safety Act of 1970 created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is partially responsible for enforcing consumer protection laws with respect to automobiles. At the state level, lemon laws protect consumers from false or misleading practices by used car dealers. Investigations can be triggered in a variety of ways – through consumer complaints, information from an internal whistleblower, news articles, congressional recommendations, social media posts, or the initiative of a commission employee. Sometimes the FTC conducts sweeps of a particular industry to ensure compliance with the law.
As the country`s consumer protection agency, the FTC receives complaints about companies that fail to keep their promises or deceive people with money. We share these complaints with our law enforcement partners and use them to investigate fraud and eliminate unfair business practices. Each year, the FTC also publishes a report that includes information about the number and type of complaints we receive. Yes, for example, under the CPHA, a manufacturer of a consumer product must immediately report to the CSPC if it receives “information that reasonably supports the conclusion that such a product: (1) does not comply with a consumer product safety rule or a voluntary safety standard for consumer products […]; (2) fails to comply with any other rule, regulation, standard or prohibition under this Act or any other Act administered by the Commission; (3) has a defect that could present a significant risk to the product …; or (4) presents an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death.” 15 USC § 2064(b). In addition, a manufacturer must report to the CPSC if, within 24 months, they have three civil actions for death or serious bodily injury that affect the same product and result in a settlement or judgment for the plaintiff. See id. § 2084. In addition, the Commission may (after the completion of all judicial reviews of its order) request the defendant of a federal district court to compensate consumers for the harm caused to consumers by the conduct at issue in the administrative proceedings. In such a lawsuit, which falls under Section 19 of the FTC Act, 15 USC § 57(b), the Commission must prove that “a reasonable man would have known in the circumstances that the conduct was dishonest or fraudulent.” Wikimedia Commons: The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (“ICPEN”) was founded in 2016 and is a coalition of primarily government organizations that apply fair consumer practices and share information and best practices. These organizations include the FTC and government agencies from other countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and Mexico.
See FTC, “Memorandum on the Establishment and Operation of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) (formerly known as the International Marketing Supervision Network (IMSN)” (2016), (hyperlink) Most consumer protection laws related to product safety aim to prevent injury. If a consumer is harmed by a defective product, the common law product liability doctrine allows the consumer to claim damages. Most states recognize at least three types of defects that could support a claim: a design defect if a product is inherently hazardous, a manufacturing defect if the defect occurs during the production process, or a marketing defect if a product is advertised or advertised for improper use that causes injury.