Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 2458
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 2458
- Consumer: means any person who purchases, leases, contracts for, or otherwise agrees to pay consideration for goods or services not for resale in the ordinary course of the person's trade or business but for the person's use or benefit or the use or benefit of a member of the person's household, or in connection with the operation of the person's household or a farm whether or not the farm is conducted as a trade or business, or a person who purchases, leases, contracts for, or otherwise agrees to pay consideration for goods or services not for resale in the ordinary course of the person's trade or business but for the use or benefit of the person's business or in connection with the operation of the person's business. See
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- services: shall include any objects, wares, goods, commodities, work, labor, intangibles, courses of instruction or training, securities, bonds, debentures, stocks, real estate, or other property or services of any kind. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 2458. Restraining prohibited acts
(a) Whenever the Attorney General or a State‘s Attorney has reason to believe that any person is using or is about to use any method, act, or practice declared by section 2453 of this title to be unlawful, or has reason to believe that any person has violated any assurance of discontinuance entered into pursuant to section 2459 of this title, and that proceedings would be in the public interest, the Attorney General, or a State’s Attorney if authorized to proceed by the Attorney General, may bring an action in the name of the State against such person to restrain by temporary or permanent injunction the use of such method, act, or practice or to dissolve a domestic corporation or revoke the certificate of authority granted a foreign corporation. The action may be brought in the Superior Court of the county in which such person resides, has a place of business, or is doing business. The courts are authorized to issue temporary or permanent injunctions to restrain and prevent violations of this chapter, such injunctions to be issued without bonds, and so to dissolve, or revoke the certificate of authority of, a corporation.
(b) In addition to the foregoing, the Attorney General or a State’s Attorney may request and the court is authorized to render any other temporary or permanent relief, or both, as may be in the public interest, including:
(1) the imposition of a civil penalty of not more than $10,000.00 for each unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce and of not more than $100,000.00 for an individual or $1,000,000.00 for any other person for each unfair method of competition in commerce;
(2) an order for restitution of cash or goods on behalf of a consumer or a class of consumers similarly situated;
(3) an order requiring reimbursement to the State of Vermont for the reasonable value of its services and its expenses in investigating and prosecuting the action;
(4) amounts other than consumer restitution recovered by the Attorney General or Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs under this chapter, but not to exceed amounts annually appropriated, or authorized pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 511, shall be deposited into special funds that shall be available to the Attorney General or Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, respectively, to offset the costs of providing legal services.
(c) Whenever a State’s Attorney brings an action pursuant to this section, a copy of any pleadings shall be served on the Attorney General pursuant to Rule 5 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure. Failure to comply with this provision shall not affect the validity of the proceedings commenced under this section. (Added 1967, No. 132, § 1, eff. April 17, 1967; amended 1969, No. 45, § 4, eff. April 4, 1969; 1971, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1973, No. 110, § 2; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1999, No. 49, § 213; 2009, No. 67 (Adj. Sess.), § 88, eff. Feb. 25, 2010; 2015, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § D.1; 2019, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § E.200.2, eff. Oct. 2, 2020.)