The legislature is considering putting more teeth in the consumer protection act. SB 6382 would change the penalty provision from three times the amount of damages to a maximum of $50,000 per violation. The reason for this that many, perhaps most of the consumer protection issues that arise involve a small amount of money but are repeated sometimes ten thousand or more times, such as billing practices, and small charges on retail items. If the fraud involves $1 per customer then the maximum penalty would be $4 for each customer ( damages of $1 and a penalty of treble damages of $3) who sued. (Class actions, despite what you hear, are rare because of the great cost bringing one.) This bill would make the the maximum penalty $50,000 depending on the gravity of the offense. A consumer fraud culprit could no longer say “so sue me” knowing that such a suit would be virtually impossible.
