New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act

The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act provides New Jersey consumers with extensive protection from deceptive and fraudulent business practices. It was enacted in 1960 with three purposes: 1) compensate the victims; 2) punish and deter fraudulent business practices; and 3) provide an incentive for competent attorneys to handle consumer protection matters. The Act achieves these goals by providing consumers with remedies such as treble damages (three times the regular damages), attorney fees and costs. 

There are three possible bases for responsibility under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. The following excerpt is from New Jersey Civil Model Charge 4.43 which does a fine job of explaining the three bases.

Two are established by N.J.S.A.56:8-2; the third is derived from either … specific-situation statutes (such as prize notification under N.J.S.A. 56:8-2.3 or food misrepresentation under N.J.S.A. 56:8-2.9 through 2.13) or regulations enacted under N.J.S.A. 56:8-4, listed in N.J.A.C. 13:45A-1.1 et seq.

The first of the three alternatives relates to that part of N.J.S.A. 56:8-2 which declares that “any unconscionable commercial practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise [or] misrepresentation” is an unlawful practice. The second alternative relates to a “knowing concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact” under the same statute. The third alternative uses the specific-situation statutes and the administrative regulations.

New Jersey Consumer Fraud Lawyers

A New Jersey consumer fraud lawyer will help you understand your rights and remedies.The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act may be applicable in any of the following situations:

• Home Improvement Contracts
• Auto Purchase Contracts
• Auto Repair Contracts
• Moving Contracts
• Real Estate Contracts
• Timeshares
• Misrepresentation concerning any commercial product
• Any “unconscionable commercial practice”

If you believe that the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act may be applicable to your situation, call the Law Offices of Michael Makarov, LLC to speak with an attorney directly.