Delaware

Delaware Department of Justice
Consumer Protection Unit
Carvel State Office Bldg.
820 N. French St., 5^th Floor, Wilmington, DE 19801
(800) 220-5424/(302) 577-8600
E-mail: consumer.protection@state.de.us
http://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/fraud/

To file a complaint online, click here.

Delaware’s Laws

Here’s a snapshot of Delaware’s laws regarding deceptive advertising:

Delaware Code § 2532: Lists a number of deceptive acts that are deemed to be unlawful, including, but not limited to, advertising goods or services with the intent not to sell them as advertised.

Possible Penalties

Some of the penalties that fraudulent or deceptive advertisers may suffer in Delaware include:

• Injunction (Delaware Code § 2533(a));

• The cost of reasonable attorney’s fees of the person suing, but only if the advertiser acted intentionally (Delaware Code § 2533(b));

•  Three times the amount of actual damages (Delaware Code § 2533(c));

• Up to $10,000 per willful violation of the law prohibiting deceptive advertising (Delaware Code § 2533(e)).

Small Claims Court in Delaware

If you’re not trying to recover big bucks, but rather just trying to recoup the money you spent on a product or service after being duped by a false ad, then you might consider filing a lawsuit in Small Claims Court.

For general info about filing a lawsuit in Small Claims Court, click here.

For info on how to file a Small Claims lawsuit in Delaware click here.

Researching Consumer Complaints

To obtain copies of complaints consumers have filed against a business you can send a Freedom of Information request to:

Delaware Attorney General/ Department of Justice
820 North French St.
Wilmington, DE 19801
https://alpha.delaware.gov/foia/?subj=DOJ

A sample Freedom of Information request can be found here.