Vermont

• Pages: 581-589

581

CHAPTER 47

VERMONT

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

The Vermont Consumer Protection Act (VCPA)1 declares unlawful

“unfair methods of competition in commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts

or practices in commerce.”2 The purpose of the VCPA “is to protect the

public, and to encourage fair and honest competition.”3 Although

“commerce” is not defined within the VCPA, the Vermont Supreme Court

has defined commerce as an “interchange of goods and commodities,

[especially] on a large scale.”4 The scope of the VCPA extends to “goods

or services,” which includes “any objects, wares, goods, commodities,

work, labor, intangibles, courses of instruction or training, securities,

bonds, debentures, stocks, real estate, or other property or services of any

kind.”5

The VCPA “is ‘remedial in nature’ and therefore must be construed

‘liberally so as to furnish all the remedy and all the purposes intended.’”6

Vermont courts have also emphasized that “[t]he Legislature clearly

intended [the VCPA] to have as broad a reach as possible in order to best

protect consumers against unfair trade practices.”7

The Vermont legislature has directed that courts construing section

2453(a), the principal substantive provision, are to be “guided by the

construction of similar terms contained in section 5(a)(1) of the Federal

Trade Commission Act as from time to time amended by the Federal Trade

Commission and the courts of the United States.”8

1. VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 9, § 2451-2483b. The VCPA was formerly known as

the Consumer Fraud Act. The name was changed to the Consumer

Protection Act in 2012. 2012 Vt. Acts & Resolves 109.

2. Id. § 2453.

3. Id. § 2451; Gramatan Home Investors Corp. v. Starling, 470 A.2d 1157,

1162 (Vt. 1983).

4. Carter v. Gugliuzzi, 716 A.2d 17, 22 (Vt. 1998) (finding that a real estate

agent was a “seller” involved in commerce within the meaning of the

VCPA).

5. VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 9, § 2451a(b).

6. Sawyer v. Robson, 915 A.2d 1298, 1304 (Vt. 2006).

7. Id.

8. VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 9, § 2453(b).