Washington

Office of the Attorney General
Consumer Protection Division
Bellingham Office: 103 E. Holly Suite 308, Bellingham, WA 98225
Seattle Office: 800 5th Avenue, Suite 2000, Seattle, WA 98104-3188
Vancouver Office: 1220 Main St., Suite 549, Vancouver, WA 98660-2964
(800) 551-4636/(206) 464-6684

http://www.atg.wa.gov/safeguarding-consumers

To file a complaint online, click here.

Washington’s Laws

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

Washington Revised Code § 19.86.020: States that unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are unlawful.

Washington Revised Code § 9.04.010: Makes it unlawful to use advertisements that contain untrue, deceptive, or misleading statements.

Possible Penalties

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

• Injunction (Washington Revised Code § 19.86.080 and § 19.86.090);

• The return of money or property acquired by the unlawful advertising (Washington Revised Code § 19.86.080);

• Actual damages (Washington Revised Code § 19.86.090);

• The cost of reasonable attorney’s fees of the person suing, if that person wins the lawsuit (Washington Revised Code § 19.86.090 and Washington Revised Code Section 19.86.080);

• Up to three times the amount of actual damages (up to $25,000) (Washington Revised Code § 19.86.090).

Small Claims Court in Washington

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 Washington, 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:

Attorney General of Washington
Administration Division
P.O. Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100

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 Washington, and not a comprehensive list.**