Washington’s Consumer Protection Act (often called the “CPA”) is designed to protect people from unfair or deceptive business practices.
Unlike many laws that focus on disputes between two individuals or companies, the CPA is concerned with the public interest. That means it is meant to stop business practices that affect (or could affect) many people, not just one person.
To bring a successful CPA claim, a person generally must show that:
- A business engaged in an unfair or deceptive act or practice in trade or commerce;
- The act or practice affected the public interest; and
- The act caused harm to the person’s business or property.
What does “unfair or deceptive” mean?
While “unfair” is not precisely defined, it includes acts and omissions that violate the law. Washington courts have explained that a practice is deceptive if it involves a statement, omission, or business practice that is likely to mislead a reasonable consumer. In other words, the conduct does not have to trick everyone—it just has to be capable of misleading a significant number of people.
How do courts decide whether something affects the public interest?
A key question under the CPA is whether the conduct affects more than just a private dispute between two parties.
A practice usually affects the public interest if it is directed at the public, such as:
- Advertising to consumers;
- Requiring all customers to agree to the same “terms and conditions;” or
- Using the same practice with multiple customers.
If the conduct occurred between only two parties, it may still affect the public interest if there is a real chance that other people have been or will be harmed in the same way.
What kinds of issues can lead to a CPA claim?
The CPA covers a wide range of unfair or deceptive conduct. Examples of situations that may support a CPA claim include harm caused by:
- Abusive or unlawful debt collection practices;
- Illegal lending practices, such as failing to disclose required fees and costs on a loan;
- An insurance company improperly denying disability benefits;
- A landlord wrongly withholding security deposits;
- A tow company selling impounded vehicles too soon;
- A real estate agent failing to disclose important known facts about properties or misrepresenting their conditions; or
- A retailer engaging in price gouging.
By contrast, some types of conduct generally do not support a CPA claim, although other legal claims may still be available. These include:
- A tax strategy marketed only to a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals;
- Misrepresentations made by one company to another during a business acquisition;
- A breach of contract that affects only the parties to that contract
- Legal malpractice or negligence; or
- Physical injuries and damages flowing from physical injuries, like medical bills.
What can I recover if I win a CPA claim?
If you prove a CPA violation, you can usually recover your actual damages (the value of the injury to your business or property, which includes money paid to the defendant, lost revenue to a business, expenses for investigating the unlawful conduct, and other similar financial harms) and your attorney’s fees.
In some cases, the court may also award up to three times the amount of your actual damages, up to $25,000.
In certain situations, the most important remedy is not money at all. The CPA allows courts to issue orders (called injunctions) that stop a business from continuing the unlawful practice. These orders can prevent others from being harmed in the same way you were. While injunctions are often difficult to obtain in other types of cases, they are more readily available under the CPA because the law is specifically intended to protect the public.