Consumer Goods: Goods bought or used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and not for resale or for producing other goods.
Consumer Protection Law: A state or federal statute designed to protect consumers against unfair trade and credit practices involving consumer goods, as well as to protect consumers against faulty and dangerous goods.
Consumer Product Safety Commission: An independent federal regulatory commission, established in 1972, that develops safety standards for consumer products and promotes research into the causes and prevention of product-related deaths, illnesses, and injuries.
Equal Credit Opportunity Act: federal statute that prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, or marital status with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction.
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act: A federal statute requiring that a written warranty of a consumer product fully and conspicuously disclose, in plain language, the terms and conditions of the warranty, including whether the warranty is full or limited, according to standards given in the statute.
Warranty: An express or implied promise that something in furtherance of the contract is guaranteed by one of the contracting parties; esp., a seller's promise that the thing being sold is as represented or promised.
All definitions are from Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019).
Consumer law involves all of the regulations and statutes that seek to create a more equitable balance for buyers in the marketplace and prevent sellers from using dishonest tactics. A consumer is any individual who purchases goods or services, which may be sold by manufacturers, wholesalers, or retailers.
Both state and federal laws play a role in regulating consumer law. These laws range from prohibiting false advertising and imposing product safety measures to regulating debt collection practices and protecting consumers’ identifying information. Consumers often find themselves needing legal help after falling victim to an online scam, purchasing a car or other product without being told of hidden defects, or losing money in financial schemes, such as identity theft or unauthorized credit card charges.
What Is Consumer Law, FindLaw, http://hirealawyer.findlaw.com/choosing-the-right-lawyer/consumer-law.html (last visited on 10/29/2015).
Bloomberg Law: Type in Consumer Law in the search box on the home page, and select All Legal Content from the drop down menu. You may then refine your search results by date or by source type using the filters on the left side of the screen.
Lexis Advance: Browse Sources: Use this feature to search keywords related to this topic. You can narrow the results using the filters along the left side.
Browse Topics: Click the Browse Topics tab, choose Banking Law, then Consumer Protection.
Westlaw: Begin typing Consumer in the global search box and click a title of interest under the Looking for this? Feature that appears.
Attorney General of Texas, Consumer Protection: Sponsored by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, this website offers Texas citizens a multitude of resources to cope with consumer issues and understand the current consumer protection laws in the state of Texas.
Consumer Protection: This website, provided by TexasLawHelp.org, compiles links to official government and organizational websites related to consumer law.
State Bar of Texas, Consumer & Commercial Law Section: The official website of the Consumer & Commercial Law Section of the State Bar of Texas provides information about the section itself and links to general consumer law information, Including the Journal of Consumer & Commercial Law.
Links to Texas Consumer Protection Statutes: This website hosts a list of links to Texas laws related to consumer protection and similiar Federal laws.
Texas Consumer Laws: This website provides a brief overview of areas of law related to consumer law, including Texas Identity Theft Laws, Texas Lemon Laws, and Texas Antitrust Laws.
