The Colorado Attorney General is dedicated to protecting Colorado consumers and businesses by upholding Colorado and Federal laws designed to maintain a fair and competitive business environment while protecting consumers from being targets of fraud. Whether combating scammers attempting to concoct elaborate investment schemes, bait-and-switch advertising, unscrupulous lenders, or fraud on older Coloradans, Consumer Protection Section is devoted to keeping Coloradans safe.
Rules governing Investigative hearings conducted by the Office of the Attorney General, pursuant to the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, C.R.S. § 6-1-108(1), and the Colorado Antitrust Act, C.R.S. § 6-4-110(1)(b) can be found at Investigative-Hearing-Rules-4-CCR-904-2 (PDF opens in new window).
A chart indicating the current certified dollar limit under UPMIFA (C.R.S. 15-1-1106(d)(1), can be found here at Current certified dollar limit under UPMIFA (PDF opens in new window).
Consumer Fraud Unit
The primary responsibility for the Consumer Fraud Unit is consumer complaint intake, investigation, and prosecution of violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and the Charitable Solicitations Act. This Unit also handles much of the Section’s consumer education and outreach (Opens in new window) efforts.
Consumer Credit Unit
The Consumer Credit Unit regulates (through licensure/registration programs) companies and individuals involved in consumer lending, debt collection, and debt management. The Unit regulates supervised lenders, credit sellers, credit counseling and debt settlement companies, and collection agencies.
Consumer Credit Enforcement Unit
The Consumer Credit Enforcement Unit investigates and prosecutes violations of Colorado laws that provide protections for consumers in dealings with consumer lenders, finance companies, retail credit sellers, debt settlement companies, credit counseling agencies, and debt collectors. The Unit also investigates and prosecutes lenders who attempt to evade Colorado laws that cap consumer loan interest rates and fees.
Antitrust Unit
This Unit enforces state and federal antitrust statutes to protect Colorado consumers from price-fixing, bid-rigging and attempts to reduce competition in Colorado that could result in higher prices for goods and services imposed on Colorado consumers.
For recent comments from Attorney General Phil Weiser on antitrust enforcement from an interview with Competition Policy International, view this CPI Talks (PDF).
Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate Unit
This Unit represents the State’s public advocate who represents residential, small business, and agricultural utility ratepayers before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The Unit examines all applications made by utilities that could impose increased rates on consumers to determine if they are reasonable and fair.
Attorney General Phil Weiser
False Claims Unit
The False Claims Unit enforces the Colorado False Claims Act (CFCA) on behalf of the Attorney General and the people of Colorado. The CFCA targets fraud on almost any local or statewide program or service that uses public funds. The CFCA protects Coloradans by providing penalties and damages against individuals and companies that knowingly misuse taxpayer dollars.
To report suspected fraud, visit Stop Fraud Colorado (Opens in new window).
For information about enforcement policies, view the Statement of Enforcement Policies (PDF).
To contact the False Claims Unit directly, please email falseclaims@coag.gov.
Medicaid Fraud, Abuse & Neglect Unit
The Medicaid Fraud, Abuse & Neglect Unit (MFANU) is dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable members of our community from abuse, neglect, and exploitation in Medicaid-funded healthcare settings. The Unit investigates and prosecutes those who harm or take advantage of Medicaid recipients, ensuring that they receive the safe, ethical, and high-quality care they deserve. The Unit is also committed to detecting and preventing fraud by healthcare providers who misuse Medicaid funds. To report Medicaid provider fraud, or abuse and neglect of patients in Medicaid funded facilities, please contact the MFANU at (720) 508-6696 or https://coag.gov/file-complaint/.
Civil Rights Unit
Housing protection: The Attorney General enforces state laws including protections against housing discrimination, and protections related to security deposits, rental applications, notices of rental increases, warranty of habitability, and specific protections for residents of mobile homes and immigrant tenants.
Worker protection: The Attorney General has the authority to enforce worker protection state laws including the Colorado Employment Security Act, the Colorado Wage Claim Act, and protections for Colorado workers against misclassification, wage theft, and unlawful noncompete agreements, including training repayment agreements, to serve Colorado’s most vulnerable workers.
Pattern or Practice: The Attorney General has the power to conduct civil investigations of government authorities that engage in patterns or practices of depriving people of their legal rights. Pattern-or-practice cases address government policies or repeated instances of misconduct by government entities, rather than isolated instances in which one individual’s rights have been violated. The Attorney General is authorized to investigate any type of government authority that engages in a pattern or practice of violating people’s legal rights, including, but not limited to, law enforcement agencies, public education providers, public housing authorities, correctional facilities, municipalities, public employers, and other local or state agencies.