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CIVIL LITIGATION I FRAUD LITIGATION I CONSUMER FRAUD I CONSUMER RIGHTS I CONSUMER PROTECTION – What are Consumer Rights? What is Consumer Protection? Do I have a Consumer Fraud Claim?
September 07, 2020
A consumer is an individual who purchases goods and services for personal or direct use. The consumer is the end-user, in other words the consumer does not purchase goods or services for resale or production purposes; rather a consumer acquires goods and services for personal use and ownership.
To help consumers make better decisions in the marketplace and have a source of redress, there is a large body of laws that protect individuals from fraud and unfair business practices. These laws designed to protect the public are known as “consumer rights laws” or “consumer protection”.
WHAT ARE CONSUMER RIGHTS?
Consumers have the right to receive truthful and accurate information about services and products they intend to purchase. In order to promote transparency in the marketplace so that consumers may make an educated and conscious decisions, it is illegal for businesses and advertisers to make false, misleading and/or deceptive claims about price, nature, safety, efficiency, and quality of goods and services that are marketed to the mass public. The body of law that makes these actions illegal are known are consumer rights laws.
WHAT DOES CONSUMER PROTECTION MEAN?
There are two United States government agencies responsible for protecting the American consumer. One is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) which focuses on lending, banking, mortgages, student loans and other consumer financial products. Specifically, the CFPB regulates the offering of consumer financial products and services. The other government agency is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which protects consumers from deceptive, unfair and fraudulent business practices. The FTC protects consumers by collecting consumer complaints regarding unfair, deceptive and fraudulent practices, conducts investigations into such practices, sues businesses and people whom engage in such fraudulent and deceptive acts, develops rules to maintain a fair marketplace and educates consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities.
DO I HAVE A CONSUMER FRAUD CLAIM?
If you have suffered a personal injury, personal loss or financial damages as a result of an unfair, fraudulent, deceptive, false, misleading or illegitimate business practice you may have a consumer fraud claim. Such actions generally come about when a consumer purchases a product or service relying in part on the representations of the business or seller and such representation is either false, misleading or omits material information.
Consumer rights and consumer protection laws regulate the way such businesses and sellers are permitted to market, sell or advertise their products and services. When a business or seller violates such regulations or laws, then a consumer may have a consumer fraud claim in order to seek redress.
Consumer protection laws and consumer rights are voluminous and complex to decipher, for that reason it is essential to discuss such instances with an experienced consumer fraud attorney. If you have fallen victim to unfair business practices or have a potential consumer fraud claim, contact us today at 6194325145 to discuss your matter with a consumer fraud attorney.
Our other articles discussing Fraud in California and Fraud in general, are linked below:
To better understand what types of damages are recoverable to consumers and other victims of fraud, see the links below: