Consumers Legal Remedies Act – Here’s How It Works

To help you better understand the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, our California personal injury lawyers discuss:

• 1. What does the CLRA prohibit?
• 3. What are the remedies?
• 4. What about attorney’s fees?
• 5. How long do I have to sue?
• Additional Reading

You may also wish to read our article on California’s “Unfair Competition Law.”

1. What does the CLRA prohibit?

California Civil Code 1770 (a) lists almost two dozen unfair and deceptive acts of consumer fraud. The prohibited practices include:

• Passing off goods or services as those of another.
• Misrepresenting the source of goods or services.
• Misrepresenting a professional affiliation or endorsement.
• Using deceptive representations or designations of geographic origin.
• Representing used or reconditioned goods as original or new.
• Representing goods or services of a particular quality or grade as of another.
• Disparaging the goods, services, or business of another by false or misleading representations.
• Advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised.
• Advertising goods or services with intent not to supply reasonably expected demands, unless the advertisement discloses a limited quantity.
• Advertising furniture without clearly indicating that it is unassembled.
• Representing that an unnecessary part, replacement, or repair service is needed.
• Misrepresenting the authority of a salesperson, representative, or agent to negotiate the final terms of a transaction with a consumer;
• Disseminating an unsolicited prerecorded message by telephone (“robo-calling”) without identifying the caller, unless the person receiving the call is already a customer or the caller is trying to collect a legitimate debt; and
• Soliciting a senior citizen at home for improvements that require a loan which encumbers their primary residence.

2. Who can sue?

Any consumer who suffered damages from an act prohibited by the Consumers Legal Remedies Act can bring suit.³ Both individual lawsuits and class actions are possible.⁴

3. What are the remedies?

California Civil Code section 1780(a) spells out the remedies for violation of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act. These include recovery of:

• Actual damages,
• An order enjoining such methods, acts, or practices,
• Restitution of property,
• Punitive damages, and
• Any other relief that the court deems proper.

Treble damages are available for victims charged unreasonable fees for assistance in securing public social services. Also, senior citizens and disabled consumers may get an additional $5,000 if they suffered substantial

• physical,
• emotional, or
• economic

damage as the result of the defendant’s conduct.

Note that the court will not award damages if the defendant:

1. Proves that violation of the CLRA was unintentional; and
2. Makes an appropriate repair or replacement or other remedy of the goods and/or services.⁵

4. What about attorney’s fees?

In CLRA cases, the court may award court costs and attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff. Meanwhile, a prevailing defendant may recover attorney’s fees only if the court finds that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was not in good faith.

5. How long do I have to sue?

The statute of limitations to sue under the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act is three years after the unfair practice.⁶

However, 30 days or more before filing a lawsuit, the consumer must notify the potential defendant via certified mail and ask the business to correct, repair, replace or otherwise rectify the goods or services alleged to be in violation of the CLRA.

Upon receipt of the notice, the business will then have 30 days to:

• remedy the situation or
• agree to do so (and then actually do it) within a reasonable time.

The business must also within a reasonable time stop the unfair or deceptive practices.⁷

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to the following scholarly articles:

• The California Consumers Legal Remedies Act – California Western Law Review.
• Remedies, Enforcement Procedures and the Duality of Consumer Transaction Problems – Boston University Law Review.
• Remedy Realities in Business-to-Consumer Contracting – Arizona Law Review.
• Legislating for the Consumer: An Insider’s Analysis of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act – Pacific Law Journal.
• The California Consumer Class Action for Fraud: Crippled at Birth by the Consumers Legal Remedies Act – Southwestern University Law Review.

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