In this episode, attorney Michael Forrest of Mazow McCullough joins John Maher to discuss the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (Chapter 93A). Forrest explains how the law broadly defines unfair or deceptive business practices and complements other consumer protection statutes, including those covering insurance and landlord-tenant issues. He discusses how the act empowers individuals by offering remedies like fee-shifting, nominal damages, and even punitive damages for willful violations. Forrest also details the process for filing a claim, beginning with a mandatory demand letter, and encourages consumers to consult an attorney if they believe they’ve been harmed by a deceptive business practice.
John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher, and I’m here today with Michael Forrest of the Law Office of Mazow McCullough. Today, we’re talking about the Consumer Protection Act in Massachusetts. Welcome, Michael.
Michael Forrest: Hi, how are you, John?
Provisions of Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act
Maher: Good, thanks. Michael, what are the core provisions of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and what types of unfair or deceptive acts or practices does it prohibit?
Forrest: The Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, I guess, to take a step back, is a very broad statute. There’s no solid definition of an unfair or deceptive practice. However, one of the nice things about the statute in Massachusetts is it complements other laws. And by complement, I mean, for example, in the insurance industry, there’s a set of statutes that regulate how an insurance company does business, how it adjusts claims.
The way Massachusetts looks at it is if you violate one of those insurance practice laws, you automatically violate the Consumer Protection Act. So while the general idea of unfair or deceptive business practices is not always definable as a specific, there are statutes… Again, there’s a landlord-tenant statute, where if you violate certain provisions with landlord-tenant statutes and regulations, you automatically violate the Consumer Protection Act in Massachusetts.
Consumer Protection Act and Landlord-Tenant Contracts
Maher: Is that part of the Consumer Protection Act that says that or is that part of the law that talks about the landlord-tenant contracts?
Forrest: There’s two things that happen. The act itself says that any violation of certain federal regulations or state regulations will constitute a violation of the act. However, what then happens is many separate types of statutes. Again, like I said, the landlord-tenant statute, there’s a security deposit statute, and the courts have found that if you violate that statute, you automatically also violate 93A in most cases. So what happens is, these statutes, they allow you to pursue your 93A claim supplementally. That’s what I earlier meant about complementing, they allow you to bring these causes of action under this better statute.
Details in the Consumer Protection Act
Maher: Okay. Is the law broad and undefined on purpose, in order to allow for any possibility of something that might happen, and maybe the law didn’t think about it at the time, but we want to leave it open and vague in order to make that determination at a later date?
Forrest: I do think it’s open for the reason that we also have many types of businesses in the Commonwealth. You have everything from providing services to goods, and I think that if the statute had been too narrow, you could have had whole categories that were excluded. I also think, by making it broad, they were able to, as I said before, when they created other statutes to protect consumers or tenants, they were able to look back at this Consumer Protection Act, because it was so broad, and they were able to say, “Hey, you also are going to have remedy through this act.”
Industries Commonly Subject to Consumer Protection Act Litigation
Maher: Are there any specific industries or transactions that are most frequently the subject of a Chapter 93A or Consumer Protection Act litigation in Massachusetts?
Forrest: I think the statute is so broad there’s not one specific industry thing, but there are categories. For example, we talked earlier, insurance, the business of adjusting insurance claims. There are very specific statutes in Massachusetts. A lot of times, when you see people dealing with insurance companies and having issues, you’ll see these 176D, 93A, which are the Consumer Protection Act claims. So, you do see a lot of those because of that statute, the statute that authorizes, in the insurance industry, bringing 93A claims.
Another world that you see it again is landlord-tenant. There’s a statute that protects tenants. That statute says that, “Hey, if you violate this statute, you will violate the Consumer Protection Act as well.” So, you see a lot of Consumer Protection Act claims that aren’t just Consumer Protection Act claims, they are narrowed down and often have claims for violations of those authorizing statutes too.
Consumer Protection Act in Massachusetts vs Federal Consumer Protection Laws
Maher: So, how does the Consumer Protection Act in Massachusetts go beyond the scope, or broaden the reach of federal consumer protection laws, and what unique protections does it offer to Massachusetts customers? You mentioned earlier that there’s cases where you might get a better result, or more of a result by going toward the Consumer Protection Act, instead of just the Federal Consumer Protection Laws. What does the Consumer Protection Act itself do to broaden that scope?
Forrest: Yeah. Sometimes you’ll have laws that don’t actually have enforcement mechanisms, for example. So, the law itself says you can’t do something, or a business can’t do something. But if the business does that thing, there’s not always a way to rectify it. Maybe it’s left to the state to rectify it. So, what the Consumer Protection Act does with respect to those kinds of state federal regulations often, is it says, here’s a federal regulation, for example, that’s been violated.
Because of that violation, this Massachusetts resident is alleging you violated… By violating that regulation, you violated Massachusetts law and the Consumer Protection Act. So it gives you the ability to look at regulations, both federal and state, that regulate businesses. And if those regulations are violated, oftentimes you can pursue the business through the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.
Remedies Available to Consumers
Maher: Then what are some of the remedies that may be available to consumers who have been harmed by violations to the Consumer Protection Act?
Forrest: So, just to take a step back, in order to bring one of these claims in Massachusetts, you first have to send a demand letter. So what happens is you give the defendant business 30 days to respond. In the event they don’t respond reasonably, or they fail to respond at all, you can then move forward with suit. If you move-
Maher: And what is it that you’re demanding? You’re demanding that they change their practice?
Forrest: Right. Either they changed their practice or that they compensate you for the damage you’ve suffered, if you didn’t get a service, or if service was provided in violation of law. Something to that effect, or maybe damage associated too.
Maher: Okay.
Forrest: Okay. So yeah, I think that the best way to say it is that once you bring that claim past the demand stage, you have a few things available to you. There’s a nominal damages provision that says that if your damage is real low, let’s say that you were only injured by $5, well, in Massachusetts, if the court finds that there was a violation still, you’re under 93A, you may be entitled to this nominal damage of $25. It also provides fee-shifting, which means that you wouldn’t necessarily have to pay for your own attorney’s fees. And in the event that you can prove that the business was acting in an unfair or deceptive manner, willfully, knowingly, or in bad faith, there’s the availability of punitive damages as well. Two to three times the actual damage.
What to Do if You’ve Been Harmed By A Company
Maher: So, if you think that you’ve been harmed by something that’s covered under the Consumer Protection Act, what should you do? What are the first steps?
Forrest: Oftentimes, I would say to use the internet, it’s a great resource, see if there was something out there, other people have complained of the issue. But then I would recommend that you contact an attorney, especially if it’s something that you see has happened over and over again to many people. The Consumer Protection Act does have the ability to stop businesses from acting in an unfair and deceptive way. So, oftentimes, even just consulting with an attorney, the attorney can help you decide if that practice rises to the level of an unfair or deceptive business practice.
Maher: All right, well that’s really great information, Michael. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Forrest: Yeah, thank you very much, John.
Maher: And for more information, you can visit the Mazow McCullough website at helpinginjured.com, or call 978-744-8000.
