FHCE 5100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Consumer Protection, Consumer Education, Home Improvement
10 Jun 2018
School
Course
Professor
Whe Markets Fail…We Need: Cosuer Protection at the State and Local Level cont.
Agecies…
− Are underfunded and understaffed
• Consumer complaints have increased but there are not enough boots on the ground to
handle them all
− Provide consumer education
− Provide merchant education
− Advocate for consumers before the legislature
− License product sellers (insurance)
Most Common Complaints
− Automobiles (repair and sales)
− Household goods
− Home improvement repairs
− Credit/lending
− Landlord/tenant
− Mail order
− Telemarketing
Local Consumer Protection
− There are fewer county and city consumer protectio offices ow cosidered hit or iss
− Local consumer protection is often through offices of district attorney or state attorney’s
− Most consumer advocacy groups are national; there are few that operate statewide and even
fewer that are active locally
Consumer Advocacy Groups
− Specialized by topic (poverty, housing)
− Operate out of private homes and post office boxes
− Many have high credibility, legislators
− Perform three general functions:
1. Complaint resolution
2. Consumer education and information dissemination
3. Lobbying and regulatory intervention to influence government
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