Iowa

• Pages: 203-215

203

CHAPTER 17

IOWA

A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action

Iowa has two primary consumer protection statutes. The first is Iowa

Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA),1 which allows enforcement only by the

attorney general.2 The second is the Private Right of Action for Consumer

Frauds Act (Private Right Act).3

1. The Iowa Consumer Fraud Act

The ICFA “was enacted in 1965 in order to protect the public from

unfair and deceptive business practices.”4 The ICFA broadly prohibits:

[t]he act, use or employment . . . of an unfair practice, deception, fraud,

false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation, or the concealment,

suppression, or omission of a material fact with intent that others rely

upon the concealment, suppression, or omission, in connection with the

lease, sale or advertisement of any merchandise . . . whether or not a

person has in fact been misled, deceived, or damaged . . . .5

An “unfair practice” is one that “causes substantial, unavoidable injury

to consumers that is not outweighed by any consumer or competitive

benefits which the practice produces.”6

A deceptive act or practice is one “which has the tendency or capacity

to mislead a substantial number of consumers as to a material fact or

facts.”7 The ICFA specifically provides that it is deceptive advertising to

represent that “advertised merchandise has certain performance

characteristics, accessories, uses, or benefits . . . if, at the time of the

1. IOWA CODE § 714.16.

2. Molo Oil Co. v. River City Ford Truck Sales, Inc., 578 N.W.2d 222, 228

(Iowa 1998).

3. IOWA CODE § 714H.1 et seq.

4. State ex rel. Miller v. Hydro Mag, Ltd., 436 N.W.2d 617, 620 (Iowa 1989).

5. IOWA CODE § 714.16(2)(a).

6. Id. § 714.16(1)(n).

7. Id. § 714.16(1)(f); see also State ex rel. Miller v. Rahmani, 472 N.W.2d

254, 258 (Iowa 1991) (holding the state failed to prove that the statements

at issue were deceptive).