Troutman Pepper Locke State Attorneys General Team

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On March 21, Florida Attorney General (AG) James Uthmeier’s Consumer Protection Division announced the resolution of ongoing litigation against a network of moving brokerage companies accused of misleading consumers. These companies, including Gold Standard Moving and Storage, allegedly misrepresented their services by claiming to offer professional, door-to-door moving services when they were operating as brokers, quoting low prices to secure large up-front deposits and then outsourcing the moving tasks to unvetted third-party carriers. According to the AG’s office, this practice frequently led to consumers allegedly facing additional and unexpected costs.

New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James recently announced her support for legislation that would significantly broaden the state’s consumer protection statute to prohibit not just deceptive acts, but also unfair and abusive business practices. The proposed Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable (FAIR) Business Practices Act, an idea long backed by leaders of the Biden-era Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has been introduced in both the New York State Senate and Assembly.

Alaska’s Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit recently announced it obtained a Superior Court order issuing a $250,000 civil penalty against B. Merry Studio, which the state alleged to have marketed products as being made in Alaska, when the products were manufactured in the Philippines. The products at issue include knives, figurines, and animal carvings. While some of the products included raw materials sourced from Alaska, the products were assembled in the Philippines. When B. Merry Studio shipped the products to Alaska, their finishings included “Made in Philippines” stickers. The company allegedly replaced these stickers with labels that stated, “Alaskan Made” and “Made in Alaska.”

On March 7, Arizona Attorney General (AG) Kristin Mayes filed a novel lawsuit alleging consumer fraud and racketeering against numerous entities, individuals, and even law firms and title companies involved in the residential real estate market. The lawsuit is now pending in Maricopa County. The lawsuit offers a warning to entities, individuals, title companies, and even attorneys and law firms involved in the residential real estate industry.

The Washington State Attorney General’s (AG) Office filed a lawsuit against Renton Collections Inc., accusing the company of violating Washington’s Collection Agency Act by failing to include certain disclosures in their collection letters to debtors.

Recent actions by the Pennsylvania and Iowa state attorneys general (AG) suggest increasing regulatory scrutiny of bitcoin transaction machines (BTMs) in connection with the role they allegedly play in facilitating scams. In Pennsylvania, AG David Sunday issued a consumer alert, warning Pennsylvanians that scammers are using BTMs to gain access to their money. In Iowa, AG Brenna Bird brought two lawsuits against Bitcoin Depot and CoinFlip, Iowa’s two largest BTM operators, over alleged collection of illegal fees and failures that allowed Iowans to send millions of dollars to scammers through their kiosks.

On March 11, New Jersey Attorney General (AG) Matthew Platkin and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced that DCR issued a finding of probable cause against Advance Funding Partners/Same Day Funding (Advance Funding), a company that provides cash advances and consumer loans, alleging that it violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by discriminating against both consumers and employees.

On January 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Minnesota, and Illinois filed a lawsuit against Deere & Company (Deere). The complaint, which Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona have since joined, accuses Deere of creating and maintaining a repair services monopoly and engaging in anticompetitive business practices that interfere with farmers’ rights to repair their Deere agricultural equipment in violation of federal and state antitrust laws.