The Consumer Protection Framework in Washington, DC
Consumer protection litigation is crucial to ensure that business owners adhere to ethical practices in the best interests of their customers. Over the years, the United States Congress and numerous state legislatures have drafted general and sector-specific laws to this end.
The District of Columbia’s primary consumer protection enactment is the Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA). The attorney general for the District of Columbia administers the CPPA. As the starting point for consumer protection in Washington, DC, the CPPA broadly provides for the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection and stipulates unfair or deceptive trade practices. In addition, the CPPA provides for the consumer complaint process and outlines the powers of inquiry of the attorney general.
Section 28-3901(a)(1) of the CPPA defines a person to include natural and artificial persons alike. Accordingly, firms, corporations, and partnerships come within the ambit of the term. Subsequently, Section 28-3901(a)(2)(A) defines a consumer as a person who does or intends to acquire, lease, or receive consumer goods or services or does or intends to furnish the economic demand for a trade practice. A trade practice, according to Section 28-3901(a)(6), is any act that does or is likely to produce, alter, or provide information about, or yield a sale, lease, or transfer, of consumer goods or services.
A wide range of acts constitutes unfair or deceptive trade practices under the CPPA. The preamble of Section 28-3904 of the CPPA says that the culpable acts need not have misled, deceived, or inflicted harm on a consumer. A person holding out a good or service as falsely having a certain source, sponsorship, approval, or certification, among other metrics, is an unfair or deceptive practice under Section 28-3904(a). Under Section 28-3904(c), a person falsely holding out a deteriorated or altered product as authentic or new is performing an unfair or deceptive practice. In addition, Section 28-3904(d) provides that falsely representing a good or service as being of a specific standard, quality, or grade stands as an unethical practice.
The CPPA requires complainants to file a written complaint with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. The complaint must contain the alleged trade practice, the names and addresses of the complainant and respondent, and other details.
Further, the Debt Collection Law is the legislation on consumer protection in debt recovery matters in the District of Columbia. Section 28-3814(b)(2) of the Debt Collection Law defines debt collection as any action, conduct, or practice connected with the solicitation or collection of claims that a consumer actually or allegedly owes a seller or lender. Under Section 28-3814(c), the Law prohibits creditors and debt collectors from engaging in certain debt recovery acts that amount to threat, coercion, or attempted coercion. These include violent acts, threats of violent acts, false accusations, threats of false accusations, and arrest threats.
Consumers are obligated under Section 28-3814(j)(1) of the Debt Collection Law to prove by substantial evidence that a creditor or debt collector deliberately violated a provision of the law. Substantial proof makes a creditor or debt collector liable for all damages the violation proximately caused.