§ 28-3901

D.C. Code § 28-3901

Definitions and purposes.

Effective Sep 26, 2026July 22, 1976, D.C. Law 1-76, § 2, 23 DCR 1185; enacted, Sept. 6, 1980, D.C. Law 3-85, § 3(a), (d), 27 DCR 2900; Mar. 8, 1991, D.C. Law 8-234, § 2(b), 38 DCR 296; Feb. 5, 1994, D.C. Law 10-68, § 27(b), 40 DCR 6311; Apr. 9, 1997, D.C. Law 11-255, § 27(u), 44 DCR 1271; Oct. 19, 2000, D.C. Law 13-172, § 1402(b), 47 DCR 6308; Oct. 20, 2005, D.C. Law 16-33, § 2032(b), 52 DCR 7503; June 12, 2007, D.C. Law 17-4, § 2(a), 54 DCR 4085; Apr. 23, 2013, D.C. Law 19-282, § 2(b)(1), 60 DCR 2132; July 17, 2018, D.C. Law 22-140, § 2(b); Apr. 5, 2021, D.C. Law 23-269, § 501(n)(2); Sept. 6, 2023, D.C. Law 25-50, § 2133(a); Aug. 30, 2025, D.C. Law 26-35, § 2; Sept. 26, 2026, D.C. Law 26-187, § 4(b)

  1. (a) As used in this chapter, the term —

    1. (1) “person” means an individual, firm, corporation, partnership, cooperative, association, or any other organization, legal entity, or group of individuals however organized;

    2. (2) "Consumer" means:

      1. (A) When used as a noun, a person who, other than for purposes of resale, does or would purchase, lease (as lessee), or receive consumer goods or services, including as a co-obligor or surety, or does or would otherwise provide the economic demand for a trade practice, or who donates money or goods to a charitable purpose or other non-profit organization; or

      2. (B) When used as an adjective, describes anything, without exception, that:

        1. (i) A person does or would purchase, lease (as lessee), or receive and normally use for personal, household, or family purposes, or is money or goods a person donates or would donate to a charitable purpose or other non-profit organization; or
        2. (ii) A person described in § 28-3905(k)(1)(B) or (C) purchases or receives in order to test or evaluate qualities pertaining to use for personal, household, family, or charitable purposes.

    3. (3) "Merchant" means a person, whether organized or operating for profit or for a nonprofit purpose, who in the ordinary course of business does or would sell, lease, supply, or transfer, either directly or indirectly and with or without cost to the consumer, consumer goods or services, or a person who in the ordinary course of business does or would supply the goods or services that are or would be the subject matter of a trade practice. For the purposes of this chapter:

      1. (A) A person need not have a contractual relationship with the consumer to qualify as a merchant;
      2. (B) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the term "merchant" does not include the District of Columbia, its agencies or instrumentalities, or any employee thereof acting within the scope of the employee's official duties; and

      3. (C) The term "merchant":

        1. (i) May include a person, who, in the ordinary course of business, provides goods or services to or on behalf of a merchant in the course of, related to, or incidental to a consumer transaction;
        2. (ii) Shall include the successors or assigns of a merchant, and such successors or assigns shall be subject to the same claims and defenses the consumer had against any predecessor merchant; and
        3. (iii) Shall include persons involved in the conduct or execution of a charitable solicitation.
    4. (4) “complainant” means one or more consumers who took part in a trade practice, or one or more persons acting on behalf of (not the legal representative or other counsel of) such consumers, or the successors or assigns of such consumers or persons, once such consumers or persons complain to the Department about the trade practice;
    5. (5) “respondent” means one or more merchants alleged by a complainant to have taken part in or carried out a trade practice, or the successors or assigns of such merchants, and includes other persons who may be deemed legally responsible for the trade practice;
    6. (6) “trade practice” means any act which does or would create, alter, repair, furnish, make available, provide information about, or, directly or indirectly, solicit or offer for or effectuate, a sale, lease, or transfer of a consumer good or service, or charitable solicitation;
    7. (7) “goods and services” means any and all parts of the economic output of society, at any stage or related or necessary point in the economic process, and includes consumer credit, franchises, business opportunities, charitable donations, real estate transactions, and consumer services of all types;
    8. (8) “Department” means the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection;
    9. (9) “Director” means the Director of the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection;
    10. (10) "Chief of the Office of Enforcement" means the senior administrative officer of the Department's Office of Enforcement who is delegated the responsibility of carrying out certain duties specified under § 28-3905;
    11. (11) [Repealed].
    12. (12) “Office of Consumer Protection” means the Department’s Office of Consumer Protection which is responsible for carrying out the statutory requirements set forth in § 28-3906;
    13. (13) [Repealed].

    14. (14) “nonprofit organization” means a person who:

      1. (A) Is not an individual; and
      2. (B) Is neither organized nor operating, in whole or in significant part, for profit;
    15. (15) “public interest organization” means a nonprofit organization that is organized and operating, in whole or in part, for the purpose of promoting interests or rights of consumers; and
    16. (16) "Infant formula product" means a food which purports to be, or is represented for special dietary use solely as, a food for infants by reason of its simulation of human milk or its suitability as a complete or partial substitute for human milk.

  2. (b) The purposes of this chapter are to:

    1. (1) assure that a just mechanism exists to remedy all improper trade practices, by any merchant and at any stage or related or necessary point in the economic process whether before, during the course of, or after the original transaction;
    2. (2) promote, through effective enforcement, fair business practices throughout the community;
    3. (3) educate consumers to demand high standards and seek proper redress of grievances; and
    4. (4) deter the continuing use of improper trade practices.
  3. (c) This chapter shall be construed and applied liberally to promote its purpose. This chapter establishes an enforceable right to truthful information from merchants about consumer goods and services that are or would be purchased, leased, or received in the District of Columbia.

  4. (d) In construing the terms of this chapter, due consideration and weight shall be given to:

    1. (1) The interpretation by the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the federal courts of the term "unfair or deceptive act or practice", as employed in section 5(a) of An Act To create a Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, and for other purposes, approved September 26, 1914 (38 Stat. 719; 15 U.S.C. § 45(a));
    2. (2) Interpretative guidance, including the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims ("Green Guides"), 16 C.F.R. Part 260, published by the FTC; and
    3. (3) The interpretation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the federal courts of the term "abusive act or practice", as employed in section 1031(d) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, approved July 21, 2010 (124 Stat. 2005; 12 U.S.C. § 5531(d)).
  5. (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, this chapter's application to landlord-tenant relations shall include the District of Columbia Housing Authority's activities as a landlord; except, that this chapter shall not be construed to otherwise apply to the District of Columbia, its agencies or instrumentalities, or any employee thereof acting within the scope of the employee's official duties.
  6. (f) In any action brought under this chapter, the burden of proof shall be by the preponderance of the evidence, unless otherwise specified in this chapter.

History

July 22, 1976, D.C. Law 1-76, § 2, 23 DCR 1185

enacted, Sept. 6, 1980, D.C. Law 3-85, § 3(a), (d), 27 DCR 2900

Mar. 8, 1991, D.C. Law 8-234, § 2(b), 38 DCR 296

Feb. 5, 1994, D.C. Law 10-68, § 27(b), 40 DCR 6311

Apr. 9, 1997, D.C. Law 11-255, § 27(u), 44 DCR 1271

Oct. 19, 2000, D.C. Law 13-172, § 1402(b), 47 DCR 6308

Oct. 20, 2005, D.C. Law 16-33, § 2032(b), 52 DCR 7503

June 12, 2007, D.C. Law 17-4, § 2(a), 54 DCR 4085

Apr. 23, 2013, D.C. Law 19-282, § 2(b)(1), 60 DCR 2132

July 17, 2018, D.C. Law 22-140, § 2(b)

Apr. 5, 2021, D.C. Law 23-269, § 501(n)(2)

Sept. 6, 2023, D.C. Law 25-50, § 2133(a)

Aug. 30, 2025, D.C. Law 26-35, § 2

Sept. 26, 2026, D.C. Law 26-187, § 4(b)

Delegation of Authority

Delegation of authority pursuant to Law 1-76, see Mayor’s Order 86-132, August 12, 1986.

Short Title

Short title of subtitle D of title II of Law 16-33: Section 2031 of D.C. Law 16-33 provided that subtitle D of title II of the act may be cited as the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Consumer Protection Revitalization Act of 2005.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2032(b) of Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-168, July 26, 2005, 52 DCR 7667).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 1402(b) of the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-438, October 20, 2000, 47 DCR 8740).

For temporary (90-day) amendment of section, see § 1402(b) of the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-376, July 24, 2000, 47 DCR 6574).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of Housing Authority Accountability Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 (D.C. Act 24-12, Feb. 26, 2021, 68 DCR 2551).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of Infant Formula Consumer Protection Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-445, June 28, 2022, 69 DCR 007739).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of Housing Authority Accountability Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-629, Nov. 3, 2022, 69 DCR 014026).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2133 of Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2023 (D.C. Act 25-172, July 14, 2023, 70 DCR 9933).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of Consumer Protection Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-32, Mar. 20, 2025, 72 DCR 3334).

Effect of Amendments

The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-282 rewrote (a)(2); added (a)(14) and (a)(15); and added the last sentence in (c).

D.C. Law 17-4 rewrote subsec. (a)(3), which had read as follows: “(3) ‘merchant’ means a person who does or would sell, lease (to), or transfer, either directly or indirectly, consumer goods or services, or a person who does or would supply the goods or services which are or would be the subject matter of a trade practice;”.

“(12) ’Office of Consumer Education and Information’ means the Department’s Office of Consumer Education and Information which is responsible for carrying out the statutory requirements set forth in section 28-3906; and”

D.C. Law 16-33 rewrote subsec. (a)(12), which had read:

D.C. Law 13-172 in subsec. (b)(1) inserted “and deter the continuing use of such practices” following “practices” in subsec. (b)(1) and added subsec. (c) providing for liberal construction of the chapter.

Prior Codifications

1973 Ed., T. 28, Appx., § 2.

1981 Ed., § 28-3901.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 1-350.10, § 28-3301, and § 28-3905.

Cross References

Job listing services, operation requirements, see § 32-407.

Employment agencies and counseling services, operation requirements, see §§ 32-404 and 32-405.

Employer-paid personnel services, operation requirements, see § 32-406.

Automobile Consumer Protection Act, see § 50-501 et seq.

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of Infant Formula Consumer Protection Temporary Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-181, Sept. 21, 2022, 69 DCR 009336).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of Housing Authority Accountability Temporary Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-273, Feb. 23, 2023, 69 DCR 14762).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of Consumer Protection Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Law 25-314, Mar. 21, 2025, 72 DCR 830).

Applicability

Section 2133(b) of Act 25-172 provided that the addition of subsection (e) to this section shall apply as of December 19, 2016.

Section 2133(b) of Act 25-176 provided that the addition of subsection (e) to this section shall apply as of December 19, 2016.

Section 3 of D.C. Law 25-314 provided that the changes made to this section by Sec. 2(a) of D.C. Law 25-314 shall apply as of June 12, 2007, and the changes made to this section by Sec. 2(b) of D.C. Law 25-314 shall apply as of November 3, 2022.

Section 3 of D.C. Law 26-35 provided that the changes made to this section by Sec. 2(a) of D.C. Law 26-35 shall apply as of June 12, 2007, and the changes made to this section by Sec. 2(b) of D.C. Law 26-35 shall apply as of November 3, 2022.

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