Consumer Protection Laws

Right-to-Repair Violations Lead to FTC Action against Harley-Davison and Westinghouse Generator Maker

July 23, 2022 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson and Westinghouse outdoor generator maker MWE Investments for illegally restricting customers’ right to repair their purchased products. The FTC has charged that the companies’ warranties included terms that conveyed that the warranties would be void if customers used independent dealers for parts or repairs. The FTC has ordered that Harley-Davidson and MWE Investments to take several corrective actions including removing illegal terms and recognizing the right to repair in their warranties, making corrective notices to their respective customers, and instituting new policies to ensure that dealers compete fairly with independent third-parties for parts and repair work.

In recent months, the FTC has prioritized its protection of consumers’ right to repair their products. Right-to-repair was part of a sweeping executive order that President Joe Biden signed last summer. The FTC’s primary tool for addressing right-to-repair issues is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA), which prohibits companies from conditioning warranty coverage on a consumer’s use of any article or service identified by brand name unless it is provided for free.

Harley-Davidson is one of the most recognized motorcycle brands worldwide. MWE Investments sells Westinghouse-brand outdoor power generators and related equipment. The products of both companies come with limited warranties that provide for no-cost repair or replacement in the event the products are defective or suffer from other issues.

According to the FTC’s complaints, the terms of both companies’ warranties violated the MMWA by voiding customers’ warranties if they used anyone other than the companies and their authorized dealers to get parts or repairs for their products. The FTC also alleged that Harley-Davidson failed to fully disclose all of the terms of its warranty in a single document, requiring consumers to contact an authorized dealership for full details. The FTC’s complaints outlined how these terms allegedly harm consumers and competition, including by:

Restricting consumer choice regarding who performed service and repair work.
Increasing costs to consumers by requiring them to use potentially more expensive OEM options.
Depriving independent dealers and manufacturers of aftermarket parts of the ability to compete on a level playing field.
Reducing resiliency by leaving consumers at the mercy of branded part supply chains and increasing waste in the form of products that could otherwise be fixed.

California Court Rules that Jury Must Decide Issue of Willfulness in Fair Credit Reporting Act Class Action

May 24, 2022 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

A California state appellate court recently issued an opinion reviving a class-action lawsuit concerning alleged violations of requirements employers must follow when performing employment-related background checks. In its opinion, the Court reversed summary judgment entered in favor of book retailer Barnes & Noble in a class-action lawsuit accusing the retailer of failing to strictly comply with the requirements for obtaining authorization for background checks found in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The Court’s decision breathes new life into the putative class action which was remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.

The FCRA is a federal statute that is meant to protect consumer privacy and promote fair and accurate credit reporting. Part of the law contains a number of requirements that employers must follow when performing employment-related background checks. Two of these requirements are found in 15 U.S.C. 1681b and require an “employer who obtains a consumer report about a job applicant first to provide the applicant with a standalone, clear and conspicuous disclosure of its intention to do so, and to obtain the applicant’s consent.” The FCRA further requires that the disclosure be contained in a document that consists solely of the disclosure.

In 2018, the plaintiff applied to work for Barnes & Noble. During the application process, Barnes & Noble’s consumer reporting agency, First Advantage, emailed the plaintiff a link to a website containing the retailer’s consumer report disclosure and asked her to authorize Barnes & Noble to perform a background check. The plaintiff alleges that she clicked the link, viewed the disclosure, and authorized Barnes & Noble to perform the background check.

First Advantage had prepared the consumer report disclosure statement that appeared on Barnes & Noble’s website. Included with the statement was a footnote that stated:

Nothing contained herein should be construed as legal advice or guidance. Employers should consult their own counsel about their compliance responsibilities under the FCRA and applicable state law. First Advantage expressly disclaims any warranties or responsibility or damages associated with or arising out of information provided herein.

Unanimous Supreme Court Curbs Consumer Relief by Blocking FTC from Obtaining Monetary Remedies in Most Consumer Protection Cases

July 3, 2021 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court recently came down hard on the Federal Trade Commission by eliminating its ability to seek monetary relief in court under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act). The ruling comes as quite a blow to the FTC which has been recovering monetary penalties from defendants under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act for nearly half a century. The full impact of this ruling remains to be seen and may not become clear for several years.

Section 13(b) monetary relief is among the FTC’s primary tools for obtaining recovery in the cases it pursues, particularly in consumer protection matters. For instance, in fiscal year 2019 alone, the FTC filed 49 complaints in federal court and obtained 81 permanent injunctions and orders, resulting in more than $723 million in consumer redress or disgorgement. The ruling is also likely to affect antitrust enforcement in the pharmaceutical industry where the FTC has pursued disgorgement amounts as high as $1.2 billion. Going forward, the FTC will be limited to injunctive relief in the vast majority of matters unless it pursues other avenues of recovery available under different sections of the FTC Act.

The case, AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, began when the FTC filed a lawsuit in federal court against payday lender AMG Capital Management, its owner, Scott Tucker, and several other entities under Section 5(a) of the FTC Act for allegedly misleading consumers with certain terms of payday loans. A payday loan is a high-interest, short-term loan, typically marketed to low-income consumers in need of quick cash. They generally come with exorbitantly high interest rates and short repayment schedules and have been called predatory by a number of consumer rights advocacy groups, such as the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

In its complaint, the FTC alleged that AMG Capital Management and other related entities engaged in numerous deceptive acts and practices in connection with how it collected loan payments from borrowers, often resulting in consumers paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more than the cost of the loan disclosed in the loan application documents.

The FTC could have initiated the case by using administrative proceedings available to it under Sections 5 and 19 of the FTC Act. Instead, though the FTC skipped these administrative proceedings and initiated the case directly in federal court seeking a permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief in the form of restitution and disgorgement under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. The district court directed the defendants to pay $1.27 billion in restitution and disgorgement. On appeal from the judgment, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, citing circuit precedent interpreting the statutory text of Section 13(b) broadly to include the authority to award restitution and other forms of monetary relief as “necessary to accomplish complete justice.” Continue reading ›

New York Enacts Consumer Protection Statute Targeting Auto-Renewal Subscriptions

February 3, 2021 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Many states have passed laws in the past few years taking aim at automatic renewals in contracts such as subscription-based services. As people have found themselves home more and more during the COVID pandemic, the number of subscription services with automatic renewals have exploded. New York recently passed a law more strictly regulating these automatic subscription renewals. The new law is set to take effect on February 11, 2021.

New York’s new law is meant to replace an existing law concerning automatic renewals which was narrow in scope and applied only to contracts “for service, maintenance, or repair to or for any real or personal property” with a renewal period longer than one month. The scope of the new law is much broader, covering any company offering goods or services to consumers through any kind of subscription plan that automatically renews—which includes free trials, free gifts, and reduced-price trial periods that convert to paid subscriptions automatically charged to consumers’ credit cards. As the press release accompanying the passage of the law explained, the new law is meant to better protect consumers who may not understand how to cancel such subscriptions and to avoid “convoluted renewals [that] have created a public health hazard for New Yorkers during the pandemic, including some who were told they had to visit their gyms in person to cancel memberships.”

New York’s new statute prohibits automatically renewing a contract without a consumer’s “affirmative consent” for the renewal. Absent this affirmative consent, some goods the provider may have sent the consumer can be deemed “unconditional gifts.” Absent from the new law, however, are guidelines for how providers are to obtain this consent.

The new law also requires clear and conspicuous disclosures before enrollment. Specifically, it requires that “automatic renewal terms,” such as the cancellation policy, recurring charges, and length of the renewal term, among other things be presented in a “clear and conspicuous” way and in “visual proximity” to the request for a consumer’s consent. Consumers must also receive an acknowledgment in “a manner that is capable of being retained by the consumer” that includes the automatic renewal terms and information regarding how to cancel the agreement. Providers must also provide a web-based option for cancellation. And if a provider makes any material changes to its renewal terms, those new terms must be provided to consumers in a “clear and conspicuous” notice. Continue reading ›

Students’ Personal Information Was Allegedly Sold to Third Parties Without Their Knowledge

September 22, 2020 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Many people have become wary of online forms asking for personal information since many of them prove to be opportunities for dishonest people and institutions to use and share that information for their own purposes. But there are institutions most of us assume to be trustworthy, and for most people, that would include the College Board, the same institution that develops and administers the SAT and ACT exams. According to a new lawsuit, the College Board allegedly collected and sold students’ personal information, including their names, addresses, gender, ethnicity, grades, and citizenship status.

According to a new lawsuit, which has been filed on behalf of the parent of a student of Chicago Public Schools, the College Board allegedly collected this information using a Student Search Survey. The College Board denies having done anything wrong, saying that the survey was optional and free for students to fill out. Legislators say the College Board did ask for students’ consent to distribute their information to colleges, universities, and scholarship providers, but did not mention that the information would be sold to those third parties – that the College Board was profiting off students’ personal information.

The lawsuit alleges that the College Board collected between 42¢ and 47¢ for each student name they sold to other organizations.

The lawsuit further alleges that, after obtaining students’ personal information, the College Board offered the students’ identifying information (including their names and addresses) for sale to third parties in order to promote Student Search Service, the survey they used to collect students’ information. Continue reading ›

Arizona State Attorney General’s Office Recovers Millions for Consumers

September 8, 2020 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Depending on the state in which they live, consumers sometimes have a hard time recovering the money they may have been deceived into giving to scammers who take their money and disappear, or to buy products that turn out to be harmful. Sometimes they can’t sue because they signed away their right to sue a company in their purchase agreement, or the amount spent is too small to justify the costs of an individual lawsuit. Other times they simply aren’t aware that the company has done something wrong. Regardless of the reason, it can be disheartening to see the number of consumers who are unable to recover funds lost as a result of scams or a company’s bad practices, but there is hope for those consumers.

One of the jobs of a state attorney general is to protect consumers against companies using predatory practices. Earlier this year Mark Brnovich, Arizona’s state attorney general, reported that his office had succeeded in recovering more than $38 million in restitution for consumers in 2019 alone.

Brnovich said the money has been recovered using a combination of out-of-court settlements, lawsuits filed (or backed) by the state, civil penalties, as well as costs associated with matters of consumer protection.

But the office of the state attorney general can’t protect consumers without the help of those same consumers. The state attorney general’s office relies on consumers, not only to notify them of potential scams and/or misconduct perpetrated by companies but also to provide evidence and testimony to help them pursue legal action, especially against large corporations. The Arizona state attorney general’s office reported having processed more than 14,000 written complaints, as well as 40,000 phone calls from consumers.

It’s a lot of information to go through, but it helped the Arizona state attorney general’s office bring legal action against large corporations, including e-cigarette manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. Continue reading ›

Watch Out for Credit Repair Scams

September 3, 2020 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Having a bad credit score can negatively impact your life in a big way. It can prevent you from getting loans for things you need – everything from buying a car to getting repairs done on your home can become difficult, if not impossible when you have a low credit score. When you are able to obtain a loan, a low credit score can mean you have to pay a much higher interest rate than you would get if you had a higher credit score. People struggling to pay back debt often have low credit scores, but having a low credit score imposes another financial burden on them, making it even more difficult for them to dig themselves out of debt. When you take all that into consideration, it’s no wonder people are desperate to have their credit scores improved by any means necessary. Unfortunately, this makes them vulnerable to predators claiming to be credit repair companies.

While there are legitimate companies that can help you improve your credit score by removing debt and “hard” credit checks from your credit score, there are also companies out there that claim they can do these things, charge a hefty fee, and then never deliver.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the office of the Illinois attorney general have each filed lawsuits against companies offering credit repair services while allegedly engaging in deceptive business practices and defrauding consumers. Continue reading ›

FTC and State of Ohio Win Injunction Against Third Party Payment Processor

August 15, 2020 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

The FTC and the State of Ohio sued a third party payment processor that engaged in processing payments for third party merchants engaged in deceptive practices and consumer fraud, as well as telemarketers in violation of the FTC Act, the TSR, and the Ohio CSPA.

The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Ohio filed a complaint seeking a permanent injunction and other equitable relief against Madera Merchant Services and B&P Enterprises. The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, and other equitable relief, as well as an order to show cause why a permanent injunction should not be issued.

Madera Merchant Services and B&P Enterprises operate a third-party processing scheme that uses remotely created payment orders or remotely created checks to withdraw money from consumers’ accounts on behalf of third-party merchants. Madera and B&P routinely withdrew funds from consumers for merchants that were engaged in fraud or deceptive marketing. The district court stated that the defendants also routinely provided payment processing services to telemarketers in violation of the TSR, which expressly prohibits collecting payments in connection with telemarketing sales. Continue reading ›

Illinois Attorney General Sues Juul for Allegedly Targeting Younger Users

July 14, 2020 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Although e-cigarettes were first marketed as a way for smokers to quit smoking, not only has it been proven that they are not an effective way to quit smoking, but e-cigarette companies, like Juul, have actually gotten young people addicted to nicotine by targeting teens and young adults who had not previously been smokers.

Despite the fact that vaping has been marketed as a safe alternative to smoking, the reality is that it has contributed to thousands of cases of lung cancer. In addition to nicotine, many e-cigarettes also contain THC, which is a psychoactive ingredient.

Dr. Ngozi Ezik, the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, has reported that 201 cases of lung illnesses in Illinois alone have been confirmed as vaping-related illnesses. The youngest patient was just 13 years old. Five deaths in Illinois have been linked to vaping.

Juul is the most popular e-cigarette company by far, and it is now facing a consumer fraud lawsuit by the state of Illinois for having targeted teens. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges Juul has been instrumental in undoing decades of work by both government agencies and anti-tobacco activists towards reducing smoking rates among teens. Despite the initial success of those efforts, which saw teen use of nicotine drop from 36% in 1997 to 5% in 2017, new data shows that the use of e-cigarettes among both teens and middle school students is currently on the rise. Continue reading ›

That “Gorgeous Rehab” Is Actually an Alleged Money Pit According to a Recent Consumer Fraud Lawsuit

February 8, 2020 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Alison Victoria, a Chicago native and one of the stars of HGTV’s “Windy City Rehab” has said that she wants to take over Chicago and put her stamp on every neighborhood. Whether fellow Chicagoans want that is another matter, and one that is currently being handled (at least in part) in the courts since Victoria and her partner, Donovan Eckhardt, is being sued by the buyers of one of their home renovations.

The house at 2308 W. Giddings Street sold for $1.36 million after Victoria and Eckhardt gave it a makeover. The end of the episode featuring the house showed it looking fixed up with fresh paint and chic furniture, but according to the current residents’ allegations (which are denied), the rehab was only skin deep, while severe structural damage continues to cause problems. Continue reading ›