A Quick Guide On Unfair Competition Laws In California
California covers a lot of ground regarding unfair business practices that might harm consumers and other businesses. That said, the key to fighting against these unfair business practices is to know your rights.
This post will give you a rundown of unfair business practice laws, as often faced by our prescreened Glendale Business Law Attorneys in California.
California's unfair business practices laws cover any practice that:
Violates public policy
Immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious acts to consumers
Where the utility of the conduct is outweighed by the severity of the harm
California's "Unfair Competition Law," found in Business and Professions Code 17200 et seq., forbids unlawful, unfair, or deceptive business conduct or practices.
This statute, according to the California Supreme Court, was intended to protect both consumers and competition.
Although damages are not recoverable under the law, a court may award restitution (which, in many situations, is the equivalent of damages to most individuals) and injunctive relief.
Contact a Glendale Business Law Attorney to help you for more details on damages and compensation.
What Is The Consumer's Legal Remedies Act?
Similarly, the Consumers Legal Remedies Act ("CLRA"), found in California Civil Code 1750, prohibits businesses in California from engaging in certain types of unfair or deceptive acts or practices in a transaction intended to result in or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer.
The CLRA states that any consumer who suffers harm as a result of the use or employment of a method, conduct, or practice may sue that individual for real damages, injunctive relief, property restitution, punitive damages, and any other remedies the court deems appropriate.
Your standing depends on the facts of your case. That said, contact a Glendale Business Lawyer to help you sort it out. Your lawyer will know how to find evidence, file paperwork, and beat deadlines.
What Does The Consumer's Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) Prohibit?
The CLRA outlines 23 "unfair techniques of competition" and "unfair or deceptive acts or activities" that are forbidden. The following are a few of the most commonly challenged prohibitions:
Using "bait and switch" strategies
Claiming that a product or service is of a certain quality
If the things are of a different style or model, they are of a different standard, quality, or grade.
Falsifying information to make it appear as if a part, replacement, or repair service is required when it is not
Passing off one person's goods or services as one's own
Making a misleading claim about the goods' geographical origin, for example:
When items are not original or new, they are represented as such.
Falsely denigrating another's products, services, or business
Making false or misleading claims about the reasons for, the existence of, or the amounts of price reductions, as well as including an unconscionable clause in a contract.
Although the Consumer's Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) allows damaged customers to seek both injunctive relief and damages, the plaintiff must first offer the defendant a chance to set things right before filing a damages complaint.
This means that the plaintiff must provide the potential defendant notice of the alleged infringement and demand that they correct, repair, replace, or otherwise remedy the banned practices at least 30 days before commencing litigation under the CLRA.
This pre-trial notice must be in writing and sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the location of the transaction or the possible defendant's regular place of business in California. Your Glendale Business Law Attorney will know what to do.
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