Hi, I’m Matthew Mobilio founder of the Mobilio Wood law firm. In this blog post, I write about a Pennsylvania law that protects individuals who are taken advantage of during a consumer transaction.  The Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) provides legal remedies for a number of situations that involve “unfair methods of competition” and “unfair or deceptive acts or practices”.

Illegal Activities

The law makes the following conduct illegal:

• The misrepresentation that services or repairs are necessary when they are not.
• Making improvements or repairs that are inferior or below the standard of that agreed to in writing.

There is also a catch-all provision making it illegal to “engag[e] in any other fraudulent or deceptive conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding”.

Examples of Consumer Fraud

Some examples of potentially illegal conduct under the act might include:

• A car repairman advising that your vehicle needs more repairs than it actually does;
• or a home improvement project using materials other than what was agreed on in the contract.

The law allows victims of deceptive or fraudulent conduct to recover actual damages incurred as a result of the conduct.  Additionally, Judges have the discretion to award you up to three times the actual damages plus costs including attorneys fees.

If you have been the victim of deceptive or fraudulent conduct in a consumer transaction, contact us today!