Iowa Senate approves new protections for Iowa consumers

The Iowa Senate voted today to change that by approving legislation to allow individual consumers to go to court on their own behalf when they are victims of fraud.

Iowa is the only state that does not allow individual consumers to go to court when they are the victims of unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent sales practices.

“This legislation will help Iowa consumers who have been defrauded by schemes, scams and other forms of fraud,” said Senator Keith Kreiman of Bloomfield, the bill’s floor manager. “It will also protect legitimate businesses that lose business to fraudulent competitors and deter consumer fraud generally in Iowa.”

Currently, Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act is enforceable only by the state’s Attorney General. Because of limited resources, the Attorney General’s office is not able to represent all Iowa consumers who may need legal representation.

“Today, we approved legislation to make it possible for victims of consumer fraud to recover their attorney’s fees as well as damages up to three times the amount of actual damages if the fraudulent or deceptive behavior are especially outrageous,” said Kreiman. “I especially want to thank Attorney General Tom Miller for suggesting this legislation to the Senate.”