Overview of State Consumer Protection Laws

• Pages: 1-15

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CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF

STATE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS

A. Introduction

This treatise compiles the primary consumer protection laws of all

fifty states and the District of Columbia. These laws generally fall into one

of two broad categories: “Little FTC Acts,” patterned after Section 5 of

the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act),1 or “Uniform Deceptive

Trade Practice Acts” (UDTPA).2 Collectively, these laws are often

referred to as unfair and deceptive acts and practices (UDAP) statutes.

Many of these laws were enacted during and shortly after the wave of

consumerism that swept the United States starting in the mid-1960s. They

are often broadly worded and liberally interpreted so as to permit

substantial breadth and flexibility for the protection of consumers.3

Despite the fact that many were patterned after or inspired by a

uniform law or a federal law, there is great variety in these state laws in

both substance and procedure. Indeed, it appears that no two states have

identical laws.

Some areas in which UDAP statutes frequently vary include (1)

whether the statute is limited to transactions involving personal, family or

household purposes, (2) whether private rights of action are limited to

consumer disputes, even if government enforcement is not so limited, (3)

whether there are procedural limitations on private suits, such as

notification requirements before filing a suit, (4) whether documents

produced in response to a government subpoena or investigative demand

are confidential or could be subject to open records requests, (5) whether

1. 15 U.S.C. § 45.

2. Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (1964) (reprinted in

Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Handbook of the National

Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and Proceedings of

the Annual Conference Meeting in Its Seventy-Third Y ear 253-64 (1964)).

The UDTPA was originally adopted in 1964 and was revised in 1966.

Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Handbook of the National

Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and Proceedings of

the Annual Conference Meeting in Its Seventy-Fifth Year 306-16 (1964).

3. E.g., Ly v. Nystrom, 615 N.W.2d 302, 308 (Minn. 2000) ; Iadanza v.

Mather, 820 F. Supp. 1371, 1377-79 (D. Utah 1993); Smith v. Commer cial

Banking Corp., 866 F.2d 576, 581-83 (3d Cir. 1989).