Serious Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Maryland and Virginia have excellent Consumer Protection Acts and each will be addressed separately in later blog entries. The next several entries, however, will address the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Act.

The District of Columbia has a very broad and comprehensive statute permitting recovery by consumers for every consumer transaction including leases and other real estate transactions. A consumer is defined as any person who purchases leases or receives consumer goods or services including mortgages or other debts. A consumer is described as anything, “without exception”, which is primarily for personal, household or family use. The goods and services covered by the Consumer Protection Act include “any and all parts of the economic output of society at any stage or related or necessary point in the economic process”. This includes consumer credit, franchises, real estate transactions and consumer services “of all types”. Any time there is any act which does create or would create, alter, repair, furnish, make available, provide information about, directly or indirectly, solicit or offer a consumer good for sale, lease or transfer, there is a potential for using the consumer protection act if you have been treated unfairly. Therefore, any time you are in any transaction with virtually anybody in the District of Columbia, you must be treated fairly or relief may be available under the Consumer Protection Act.

If you, a family member or someone you love has been treated unfairly please contact the Consumer Fraud attorneys at the law firm of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. for a free consultation.

By Ira Sherman