Consumer Protection Law

Consumer protection law exists to safeguard the public against unethical conduct and irresponsible behavior undertaken by corporations, government agencies, and other bad actors. When companies violate consumer protection laws to enrich themselves at the risk of their own customers’ health and safety, they need to be held accountable.

The consumer protection attorneys at Singleton Schreiber have a deep understanding of all facets of consumer protection law, including nursing home abuse, product liability, false advertising, data privacy, and even the use of weaponized AI to illegally screen out tenants or deny insurance claims.

Don’t let greedy, irresponsible companies harm you physically, financially, or otherwise. If you or someone you know is a victim of any of the consumer protection violations listed below, contact an experienced consumer protection lawyer immediately:

• Predatory Lending
• Predatory or Discriminatory Student Loan Servicing
• Mortgage Cases
• High Cost Credit
• Credit Repair Services
• Abusive Debt Collectors
• Loans Targeting Military Service Members
• Solar Panel Financing
• Breach of Warranty

State and Federal Consumer Protection Laws

There are several major federal consumer protection laws that may be useful to know, depending on your case. Many of these deal with financial issues like credit reporting, debt collection, lending, and consumer privacy.

Some of the biggest violations of these laws have occurred within the past ten years. In 2019, Equifax was fined $650 million for a massive data breach that occurred two years prior and exposed the personal and financial information of nearly 150 million consumers due to a faulty framework in one of their databases.

The same year, Facebook was fined $5 billion by the FTC in the largest consumer protection penalty in history, to settle charges that they deceived users about their ability to control the privacy of their personal information.

Some common federal consumer protection laws include:

• Telephone Consumer Protection Act – Regulates telemarketers and restricts certain practices including automatic dialers, and protects against violations of the National Do Not Call Registry.

• Fair Credit Reporting Act – Regulates credit bureaus and how they report consumer credit information, giving consumers the right to know what is in their credit files and dispute their accuracy.
• Consumer Credit Protection Act – Requires lenders to disclose the complete cost of a loan or credit product up front, including any interest and fees, and prohibits them from false advertising and discrimination.
• Truth in Lending Act – Protects consumers from unfair and misleading lending and credit practices and gives them the right to rescind a loan that they agreed to if the lender engaged in high-pressure or unfair sales practices.
• Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act – Governs warranties on consumer products to ensure accurate and transparent information about warranty terms, allowing consumers to compare warranty coverage in order to promote competition, and limiting the ability of manufacturers to disclaim warranties they have offered or implied.

California also has its own California Consumer Financial Protection Law to prohibit businesses from engaging in deceptive sales practices and predatory lending. In many cases, California laws offer better projections than federal laws, and a greater remedy for consumers.

DC Consumer Protection Law

The District of Columbia also has its own general consumer protection law, called the Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA), which prohibits many of the same deceptive business practices at a local level. The CPPA includes the Automobile Consumer Protection Act (Lemon Law), the Consumer Credit Protection Act, the Consumer Personal Information Security Breach Notification Act, the Home Loan Protection Act, the Home Equity Protection Act (Foreclosure Rescue Services), identity theft laws, and more.

The CPPA was enacted in 1980, and according to experts, the DC statute is among the broadest and strongest in the nation. It has been amended about every three years since it was passed to become even more comprehensive. For example, in 2022, price-gouging violations related to the nationwide infant formula shortage earlier in the year were added.

Under the CPPA, a court can award $1,500 per violation (or three times the amount of the damages, whichever is greater), as well as punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees and costs as a remedy to consumers. DC’s Attorney General can also pursue damages on behalf of consumers, as well as civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, or up to $10,000 per violation if the defendant has previously been fined for the same actions.

The DC Court of Appeals has confirmed in previous rulings that the CPPA is a “comprehensive statute” designed to “remedy all improper trade practices.” While the law lists specific “unlawful trade practices” that may constitute violations, practices that may violate the statute are not limited to those listed. Violations of other laws can also constitute violations of the CPPA if they can be considered unlawful trade practices, “whether or not any consumer is in fact misled, deceived or damaged thereby.”

Consumer Financial Fraud

Consumer financial fraud is a wide umbrella containing many different types of illegal behaviors that companies might engage in, including false advertising, insurance fraud, discriminatory lending, and senior citizen fraud or elder abuse. If you feel like you were cheated out of a fair deal on a product or service, you might have a legal claim for consumer financial fraud.

Deceptive, discriminatory, or unfair business practices can come in many forms, including charges that weren’t disclosed up front, defective designs, false advertising, and more. Common examples include bank violations like overzealous or predatory overdraft fees, or a lack of oversight in investigating fraud or disclosing penalties or additional charges.

If you were a victim of consumer fraud, speak with an experienced consumer financial fraud attorney right away so that you can get the full and fair settlement that you are entitled to and move on with your life. Our lawyers will stop at nothing to make you whole again and hold bad corporate actors accountable so that they can’t continue their illegal, reckless behavior.

Nursing Home Abuse

Financial elder abuse is an all too common issue in long-term care facilities and assisted living centers. Often, these institutions are grossly understaffed in a deliberately negligent manner in order to cut costs and maximize profits for their companies and shareholders.

What’s more, these centers are often hunting grounds for scammers who steal the identities of their residents to access their credit, finances, or assets. Many seniors have fallen victims to nefarious actors who have taken advantage of their trust to steal their possessions or control their finances, costing seniors in the US as much as $28 billion each year.

Data Privacy Breaches

Identity theft costs victims and businesses tens of millions of dollars each year in the US alone. When your data is leaked, your personal information can be stolen and used to open up bank accounts and take out loans in your name. An experienced data privacy lawyer knows how to get justice if your data has been stolen or breached.

Singleton Schreiber’s data privacy attorneys have fought the misconduct and negligence of some of the biggest corporations in the country. If a company has been careless with your data or personal information, we will make them pay.

If you do feel that your data is not secure or you have received a letter saying that it may have been breached, you should contact your bank and all three credit bureaus immediately, check your credit reports and bank account, and file a police report.

AI Use in Insurance Claim Denials and Tenant Selection

About one third of California health insurance claims are denied on an annual basis, and now, some of those may be denied using AI tools. However, companies are now prohibited from relying solely on AI to make those decisions.

The “Physicians Make Decisions Act,” signed into California state law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September of 2024, amended the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act to include new guidelines and standards on the use of AI in processing health care claims. The new law requires that medical professionals must determine whether a treatment is medically necessary.

While insurers have embraced AI for efficiency, they can no longer use it to deny, delay, or alter services that doctors deem medically necessary.

In May of 2024, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also released new guidance addressing the application of the Fair Housing Act in regards to AI’s impact on the tenant screening process and the advertising of housing opportunities through targeted ads.

The use of third-party screening companies using AI must comply with the Fair Housing Act and ensure all applicants are given an equal opportunity to be evaluated on their own merit, while the criteria used for eligibility must be made transparent and be written plainly.

Furthermore, housing-related ads cannot be targeted away from any of the seven protected classes: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.

Defective Products

Product liability is a major focus of consumer protection law. An experienced product liability attorney from Singleton Schreiber will carefully examine your case for any possibility of a claim of negligence against the manufacturer or distributor of a defective product.

Manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and retailers bear legal responsibility for any injuries or damages caused by their defective products or those they have provided or supplied to consumers. Common types of product liability include:

• Design Defects
• Manufacturing Defects
• False Marketing
• Breach of Warranty 

False Advertising 

In the United States, the Lanham Act says that commercial advertising is illegal if it “misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin” of a product or service. The FTC also has regulations that prohibit deceptive advertising.

The State of California’s Unfair Competition Law also prohibits misleading advertising, and cases regarding false advertising typically result in a class action lawsuit against the company at fault. This can include:

• Advertising products made abroad as “Made in the USA”
• Making untrue claims about a product’s performance
• Marketing fake or counterfeit products as authentic
• Advertising that a product outperforms a specific competitor with no evidence
• Referring to a product as “natural” or “organic” when it contains artificial ingredients
• Bait-and-Switch marketing that advertises a lower price or a better offer than one that is actually available

If you have been a victim of false advertising, speak with a false advertising lawyer at Singleton Schreiber today. We are experts at going after companies that falsely advertise their products and services. Our ongoing OtterBox Warranty lawsuit is seeking compensation for victims after the leading manufacturer of smartphone and tablet cases failed to honor its warranty commitments to consumers.

Connect With an Experienced Consumer Protection Lawyer Today

The consumer protection lawyers at Singleton Schreiber will fight for you and all consumers who are victims of the greed and negligence of companies that violate consumer protection laws. If you believe you were induced to make a purchase by deceptive advertising, or have been the victim of a dangerous product, weaponized AI, private data breach, nursing home abuse, or other consumer financial fraud, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Singleton Schreiber has offices across California and the nation, and our consumer protection attorneys will do everything possible to deliver justice to the victims of companies that violate consumer protection laws. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.