§ 20-701 Definitions.
a. Deceptive trade practice. Any false, falsely disparaging, or misleading oral, written, digital, or electronic statement, visual description or other representation or omission of any kind made in connection with the sale, lease, rental, or loan or in connection with the offering for sale, lease, rental, or loan of consumer goods or services, or in the extension of consumer credit or in the collection of consumer debts, which has the capacity, tendency or effect of directly or indirectly deceiving or misleading consumers. Deceptive trade practices include but are not limited to: (1) representations that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, certification, accessories, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do not have; the supplier has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection that he or she does not have; goods are original or new if they are deteriorated, altered, damaged, refurbished, reconditioned, reclaimed, or secondhand; or, goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model, if they are of another; (2) the use, in any representation, of exaggeration, innuendo, or ambiguity as to a material fact, or the failure to state a material fact, if such use of, or failure to state, a material fact deceives or tends to deceive; (3) disparaging the goods, services, or business of another by false or misleading representations or omissions of material facts; (4) offering goods or services with intent not to sell them as offered, including by failing to disclose clearly and conspicuously all material exclusions, reservations, limitations, modifications, or conditions on such offer; (5) offering goods or services with intent not to supply reasonable expectable public demand, unless the offer discloses a limitation of quantity; (6) making false or misleading representations of fact, or omitting material facts, concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions, or price in comparison to prices of competitors or one's own price at a past or future time; (7) stating that a consumer transaction involves consumer rights, remedies, or obligations that it does not involve; (8) falsely stating that services, replacements or repairs are or are not needed; (9) falsely stating the reasons for offering or supplying goods or services at scale discount prices; and (10) failing to provide a complete and accurate translation of all documents, other than receipts, related to a consumer transaction conducted in a designated citywide language other than English, as defined in section 23-1101, provided that such transaction was predominantly negotiated in such language, and provided further that, for purposes of this subdivision, the term "predominantly negotiated" means the negotiation of material terms of a consumer transaction, including price, quantity, the description of goods or services, exclusions and conditions; and the term "receipt" means a document that provides only the amount paid by the consumer for each item, the total amount paid by such consumer, the date of the purchase and the legal name and address of the seller.
b. Unconscionable trade practice. Any act or practice in connection with the sale, lease, rental or loan or in connection with the offering for sale, lease, rental or loan of any consumer goods or services, or in the extension of consumer credit, or in the collection of consumer debts which unfairly takes advantage of the lack of knowledge, ability, experience or capacity of a consumer; or results in a gross disparity between the value received by a consumer and the price paid, to the consumer's detriment; provided that no act or practice shall be deemed unconscionable under this subchapter unless declared unconscionable and described with reasonable particularity in a local law, or in a rule or regulation promulgated by the commissioner. In promulgating such rules and regulations the commissioner shall consider among other factors: (1) knowledge by merchants engaging in the act or practice of the inability of consumers to receive properly anticipated benefits from the goods or services involved; (2) gross disparity between the price of goods or services and their value measured by the price at which similar goods or services are readily obtained by other consumers; (3) the fact that the acts or practices may enable merchants to take advantage of the inability of consumers reasonably to protect their interests by reason of physical or mental infirmities, illiteracy or inability to understand the language of the agreement, ignorance or lack of education, or similar factors; (4) the degree to which terms of the transaction require consumers to waive legal rights; (5) the degree to which terms of the transaction require consumers to jeopardize money or property beyond the money or property immediately at issue in the transaction; and (6) definitions of unconscionability in statutes, regulations, rulings and decisions of legislative, or judicial bodies in this state or elsewhere.
c. Consumer goods, services, credit and debts. As used in section 20-700 of this subchapter and subdivisions a and b of this section, goods, services, credit and debts which are primarily for personal, household or family purposes.
d. Consumer. A purchaser or lessee or prospective purchaser or lessee of the consumer goods or services or consumer credit, including a co-obligor or surety.
e. Merchant. A seller, lessor, or creditor or any other person who makes available either directly or indirectly, goods, services or credit, to consumers. "Merchant" shall include manufacturers, wholesalers and others who are responsible for any act or practice prohibited by this subchapter.
(Am. L.L. 2021/098, 9/26/2021, eff. 1/24/2022)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2021/098.
