Assignment

Answer the questions.

1. Which statues and organizations serve to protect consumers’ rights in the USA?

2. Which legal norms are applied in consumer Law?

3. Are «truth-in-menus» laws federal, state or local? Why?

Test 4 Court cases on consumer’s complaints

If you can’t settle your complaint and a consumer’s agency has been unable to help, you may wish to take your case to court. Anyone can go to court. Minors can sue through their parents or guardians. In some places, free or low-cost legal services may be available to consumers who cannot afford an attorney.

If the dispute involves a large amount of money, the case will be brought in your local civil trial court. Taking a case to court can be costly and time-consuming, but a consumer can ask for a number of different remedies*.

First, you can sue for damages, money that a court orders paid to a person who has suffered a loss or an injury. For example, if you are injured by a defective power drill, you can ask for money for a new drill, medical expenses, time lost from you job, and other related costs.

A second remedy is rescission** and restitution. This means you can ask the court to cancel the contract (rescission) and order the person you are suing to give back any money you have already paid (restitution). This releases you from any further performance under the contract, but you would have to return any benefit already received under the contract. Assume, for example, that you sign a contract to purchase a set of pots and pans and that a pan melts the first time it is exposed to a direct flame during cooking. In such a case, you might seek rescission and restitution. You would get your money back and would have no further obligations under the contract. However, you would have to return the pots and pans.

The third civil remedy is specific performance***. This means you ask the court to order the seller to carry out the specific terms of the agreement. For example, if you ordered goods that were never delivered, the court could order the company to deliver the goods. However, you would still have to pay for them.

A suit for damages or specific performance is designed to place you in approximately the position you would have been in if the contract had been successfully completed. A suit for rescission and restitution is designed to return both the buyer and the seller to the position each was in before the contract began.

In some cases, the seller’s action may be a crime as well as a violation of civil law. These acts can be prosecuted as criminal fraud. Criminal fraud occurs when a salesperson knowingly mistakes or misrepresents some important fact, with the intent to defraud you resulting in harm.

For example, assume you contract with a builder to construct a deck on your home. You pay the builder several thousand dollars to purchase the necessary materials. However, the builder never intends to build the deck. He simply uses the scheme to take your money. In such a case, you’re the victim of a crime. You should contract the police or your local prosecutor. Cases like this can be prosecuted by the government in criminal court. State laws not only provide a fine or jail term (or both) for a convicted defendant but may also require that the defendant pay back the defrauded consumers.

*remedy - средство судебной защиты, санкция

**rescission - аннулирование, расторжение

***specific performance - реальное исполнение