Recent years have seen an increase in consumer lawsuits. These lawsuits often involve claims with small value and, as such, are often combined into class actions in order to make the lawsuits worth pursuing. Such lawsuits can be brought under a variety of theories including consumer fraud, unfair trade practices, or unjust enrichment.

As the rights of consumers have gained attention, government regulation has increased to protect the American public against unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices in the marketplace. In fact, the area of consumer law is dedicated to regulating the relationships between individual consumers and the businesses that sell goods and services. Belt Law Firm’s consumer protection attorneys have the experience and knowledge to handle any type of consumer claim. Consumer affairs are overseen in many states by a department devoted to regulating certain industries and protecting consumers who use goods and services from those industries.

Most state Attorney General Offices have consumer protection divisions that provide three primary services to the state’s residents by:

• Serving as a mediator of consumers' complaints that relate to retail transactions.
• Investigating allegations of fraud or illegal practices by a business.
• Offering information and consumer education to the public.

Federal consumer protection laws are mainly enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. Federal laws that regulate consumer affairs include the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Fair Credit Billing Act.

Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Product safety: Holding manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and/or retailers responsible for warranty repairs or replacement of products or parts of products that protect consumers.
• Privacy rights: The proper collection, use, disclosure, quality and security of personal information.
• Unfair business practices: A broad area that involves someone in the position of a seller acting unfairly or deceiving a buyer. This includes false advertising and deceptive pricing practices. These actions are typically governed by state consumer protection statutes.
• Misrepresentation: A false statement of fact made by one party to another, which has the effect of inducing the second party into a contract or transaction.
• Telemarketing fraud: Fraudulent selling conducted over the phone. Common types include: advance fee fraud (claiming that the victim will receive a lottery prize, government grant or loan, etc.); pyramid schemes (misrepresented investments or business opportunities); overpayment fraud (victim is overpaid for a purchase with a counterfeit check and asked to wire back some of the extra); and charity fraud (people are deceived into believing that they are donating money to a charity).
• Bait and switch: Fraud that involves luring customers by advertising a product or service at a temptingly low price, then discouraging the purchase of the advertised item and instead trying to convince the buyer to purchase a different item for a higher price or on less favorable terms.
• Fair debt collection: Regulation of the ways in which bill collectors are allowed to inform a debtor of outstanding debt and to motivate repayment.
• Lemon laws: Enforcement remedies for purchasers of certain goods – usually cars – when those products repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. The rights afforded to consumers by lemon laws may exceed the warranties expressed in purchase contracts.
• Rent to own industry: Possibilities of predatory lending due to the fact that the price of a product can be two or three times the retail price.
• Identity theft: Fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be someone else. The person whose identity is used can suffer an assortment of consequences if they are held responsible for the actions.
• Predatory Lending: These cases involve cases against finance companies for insurance packaging (packing on unnecessary insurance to loans), flipping (forced refinancing), and equity stripping financing.

If you need help with a claim like those listed above, the consumer protection attorneys of Belt Law Firm are ready to provide the one-on-one attention you need and deserve.

For your free consultation with a Consumer Protection Attorney, fill out our contact form or call us at 888-933-1514 (toll free).