Consumer Fraud Act Does Not Apply

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David A. Szwak
Posts: 1974
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:19 pm

Consumer Fraud Act Does Not Apply

Post by David A. Szwak »

Son of debtor had no right to recovery under Arizona's Consumer Fraud Act against creditor's attorney based on attorney's filing of legal action against son which sought to repossess debtor's mobile home after debtor had defaulted on financing contract but had alleged that son, who was not party to contract, had failed to make payment under contract; attorney's alleged misrepresentation was not in connection with sale or advertisement of any merchandise as prohibited under Act. A.R.S. § 44-1521 et seq.

Walker v. Gallegos
167 F.Supp.2d 1105
D.Ariz.,2001.
Sep 28, 2001
David A. Szwak
Posts: 1974
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:19 pm

Post by David A. Szwak »

The Court can conclude, however, that the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act claim fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and that it cannot be amended to state such a claim. A.R.S. § 44-1522(a) requires that the deception or misrepresentation at issue be in "connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise" in order to be actionable as consumer fraud. The allegations of the complaint, even taken as true and construed in Walker's favor, do not as a matter of law involve the sale or advertisement of merchandise as those terms are defined in the Consumer Fraud Act. While the underlying consumer loan transaction between Walker's mother and the defendant's client's assignor fell within the purview *1108 of the Consumer Fraud Act, see Villegas v. Transamerica Financial Services, Inc., 147 Ariz. 100, 708 P.2d 781 (App.1985) (Court concluded that the lending of money is subject to the provisions of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act), allegations made in a complaint to repossess collateral are too attenuated from the underlying loan sale/advertisement to come within the statute's purview.
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