Consumer protection laws safeguard purchasers of goods and services against unfair or fraudulent business practices. If a company is in this category, it faced allegations of misleading consumers and was fined or reached a settlement.
Sources
Violation Tracker contains nearly 25,000 entries on consumer protection cases dating back to 2000 with almost $150 billion in penalties. Only one-eighth of cases are handled at the federal level, but these account for nearly 70 percent of penalties in the offense category. Nearly 300 cases have been brought by the Justice Department, resulting in over $43 billion in penalties. The majority of remaining federal cases are overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Even with much lower penalty amounts, states play a large role in consumer protection regulation with over 85 percent of cases. Attorneys General, especially multistate coalitions, are the primary enforcers. Entries also come from state regulatory agencies, such as the New York Department of Financial Services and the Texas Department of Insurance.
A small number of cases originate at the local level, primary through district or city attorneys, along with the occasional consumer protection department. California multi-jurisdiction cases make up a large portion of the local settlements.
Violation Tracker also contains selected private litigation, including almost 800 major consumer protection class action lawsuits with total settlements and awards of $31 billion.
Search Techniques
Violation Tracker offers multiple ways to locate consumer protection cases. In the Basic Search on the homepage, you can combine a company name with the consumer protection option in the Offense Group dropdown menu and/or a federal agency from the Federal Regulatory Agency dropdown.
On the Summaries page (click Other Summaries from the home page) you can retrieve an overview of all consumer protection cases from the Offense Group Summaries dropdown or overviews for the FTC or other agencies from the Federal Agency Summaries dropdowns. The parent company summaries include breakdowns by offense categories, including consumer protection.
On the Advanced Search page you can combine a company name and other variables with the consumer protection choice in the Offense Group dropdown. Using the Offense Type dropdown you can limit the search to specific laws (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act) or specific types of consumer protection (privacy, discrimination, etc.).
You can also use the Full Text search box to search the names of specific consumer protection laws or issues (such as housing abuses) mentioned in the description field of the individual entries. Use the Level of Government dropdown to limit your search to federal, state or local cases.
To locate consumer protection class action or multi-district lawsuits, go to the Advanced Search and choose private litigation from the Action Type dropdown and the consumer protection choice in the Offense Group dropdown. Private litigation entries include full case citations. Violation Tracker subscribers also have access to key court documents such as settlement agreements.
