Attorney General Phil Weiser celebrates signing of legislation that updates, toughens Colorado consumer protection laws

May 23, 2019 (DENVER, Colo.) —Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined Governor Jared Polis for the signing of HB19-1289, legislation that strengthens the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and gives the Attorney General’s office more tools to crack down on scams and unfair business practices.

With bipartisan support in the state legislature, the bill’s passage marks the first major overhaul of the state’s consumer protection laws in decades and brings Colorado more in line with other states when it comes to protecting consumers. According to the National Consumer Law Center, Colorado ranks 48th in the nation in strength of consumer protection laws.

“Strengthening our consumer protection laws is a huge victory for Colorado consumers. Today, we are sending a message to everyone that, here in Colorado, we celebrate businesses that do the right thing, entrepreneurs who solve problems, and companies that play by the rules. I thank Governor Polis, State Rep. Mike Weissman and State Senators Mike Foote and Julie Gonzales for making this bill a reality so that we can hold irresponsible businesses accountable and squash fraudulent activity before it is too late,” said Weiser.

The new law changes the existing requirement from having to demonstrate a company had a specific intent to commit a deceptive business practice that has a significant public impact to being able to hold bad actors accountable early on so long as their actions recklessly harm consumers. Additionally, the bill adds a “catch-all” provision against any deceptive practice that harms consumers rather than the list of narrowly defined acts and practices the CCPA previously defined as fraud.

The bill also increases the civil penalties imposed against violators of the CCPA, increasing the per violation penalty maximum from $2,000 to $20,000, and removes the $500,000 cap for any related series of violations. When a violation is committed against an older adult, the penalty maximum increases from $10,000 to $50,000 with no cap.

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CONTACT
Lawrence Pacheco, Director of Communications
(720) 508-6553 office | (720) 245-4689 cell
Email: Lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov