Louisiana
Pages | 239-250 |
239
CHAPTER 20
LOUISIANA
A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action
The Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law,1
commonly referred to as the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act
(LUTPA) prohibits “unfair methods of competition and unfair or
deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce . . . .”2
In addition to this general prohibition, LUTPA enumerates several
specifically prohibited acts involving specific goods, services,
transactions, or industries.3 Further, LUTPA provides that “[a]ny
consumer contract, express or i mplied, made by any person, firm, or
corporation in violation of [LUTPA] is an illegal contract and no recovery
thereon shall be had.”4
LUTPA provides no specific definition for the term “unfair.” Instead,
Louisiana courts have given the language of the statute its plain meaning
and have determined whether conduct violates the statute on a case-by-
case basis.5 Louisiana courts have held that an act or practice is unfair
under the statute “when it offends established public policy and when the
1. LA. STAT. ANN. §§ 51:1401 to 1430.
2. Id. § 51:1405. Under the statute, “trade” and “commerce” mean “the
advertising, offering for sale, or distribution of any services and any
property, corporeal or incorporeal, immovable orc movable, and any other
article, commodity or thing of value . . . affecting the people of
[Louisiana].” Id. § 51:1402(9).
3. Id. §§ 51:1419-1428; see, e.g., id. § 51:1420 (prohibiting the
misrepresentation of geographic location of a business or supplier of a
service or product); id. § 51:1421 (prohibiting retail sellers from requiring
purchaser personal information when completing a consumer transaction
for a cash sale) id. § 51:1423 (regulating certain aspects of gift certificates);
id. §§ 51:1425-1426 (regulating certain acts of internet service providers);
id. § 51:1427 (making it an unfair method of competition and unfair act or
practice to use stolen or misappropriated property, including software, to
make, develop, or supply products or services).
4. Id. § 51:1403. “Consumer contract” is not defined, but “consumer” is
defined as “any person who uses, purchases, or leases goods or services.”
Id. § 51:1402(1).
App. 1995); Bladen v. C.B. Fleet Holding Co., 487 F. Supp. 2d 759, 765
(W.D. La. 2007).
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