Louisiana

Office of the Attorney General
1885 North 3rd St.
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Mailing Address
P.O. Box 94005
Baton Rouge, LA 70804

Phone: 225-326-6465
Consumer Protection Hotline: (800) 351-4889
Email: ConsumerInfo@ag.state.la.us
http://www.ag.state.la.us/Article.aspx?articleID=16&catID=0

To file a complaint online, click here.

Louisiana’s Laws

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

Louisiana Revised Statutes § 51:1402 and § 51:1405:  Make it unlawful to use any unfair, false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in connection with advertisements.

Louisiana Revised Statutes § 51:411 Prohibits the use of advertisements that contain untrue, deceptive, or misleading statements or representations.

Possible Penalties

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

• Injunction (Louisiana Revised Statute § 51:1407);
• Up to $5,000 per violation of the law against deceptive advertising, if the advertiser acted with intent to defraud (Louisiana Revised Statute § 51:1407);
•  Revocation or suspension of any license or certificate to do business in the state of Louisiana (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 51:1408);
• Actual damages (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 51:1409);
• Three times the amount of actual damages, if the court finds that the advertiser acted knowingly (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 51:1409);
•  The cost of reasonable attorney’s fees of the person suing, if that person wins the lawsuit (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 51:1409).

Small Claims Court in Louisiana

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 Louisiana, 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:

State of Louisiana
Attorney General
Department of Justice
Public Records Coordinator
P.O. Box 94005
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9005

A sample Freedom of Information request can be found here.

**Please note that this page is informational only and does not take the place of legal advice.  Please also note that the above summary is meant to provide a brief look at the laws in Louisiana, and not a comprehensive list.**