Vermont’s little-FTC Act-- [Title 9, Chapter 63] (also known as the Vermont Consumer Fraud Act) is fairly typical of state UDAP laws.

Sec. 2451 is the “statement of purpose.” Note that the purpose of the Act is to “complement enforcement of federal statutes and decisions.”

Sec. 2453 (a) is the operative provision of the law; its language is virtually the same as the FTCA.

Sec. 2453 (b) directs courts to look to the FTCA and court interpretation of the FTCA for interpretation of the Vermont law.

Sec. 2453 (c) gives the Vermont Attorney General (AG) rulemaking power (and we’ll look at some rules later).

Sec. 2453 (d) states that the violation of any rule is a violation of the little-FTC Act.

Sec. 2458 lists the remedies available in a case brought by the Attorney General.  These include:

(a) an injunction (an order that the business stop doing the illegal act);
(b) (1) a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation;
(b) (2) restitution to consumers; and
(b) (3) reimbursing the State for its investigative costs.

Sec. 2461(b) of the Act creates a "private right of action."  Under this section, a consumer can sue to enforce the law on his or her own behalf.

A couple of things to note under this section:

1. “Any consumer...” means that only consumers, as defined in the law, can sue.  However, if you go back to the definition section, you’ll see that the term “consumer” includes not only people who buy goods and services for their personal or household use, but also businesses who buy goods for their own use (though not for resale).  The provision to allow businesses to sue under the law was added a few years ago in recognition of the fact that small Vermont businesses that were preyed upon by unscrupulous sellers had no remedy under the Act.
2. The consumer may sue the “seller, solicitor, or other violator.”  Thus the law applies to “casual sales” (i.e., the violator need not be engaged in the business of selling that product).  Thus, a consumer can sue the person who sold him a car that was misrepresented, even if the seller was not a car dealer.
3. The remedies available to private plaintiffs include all of the following:
   
1. "Damages, or consideration, or the value of the consideration." A consumer who purchases a car that was misrepresented can sue for the difference in value between the car as represented and the car as it is, or can sue for what he paid for the car (the "consideration")!
2. Attorney’s fees.
3. "Exemplary" damages of up to three times the value of the consideration.  If the plaintiff can prove the defendant acted in bad faith or maliciously, the court may, at its discretion, award the plaintiff up to three times what she paid for the car.  As with "punitive" damages, the purpose of awarding exemplary damages is to punish the defendant and deter future wrongdoing.