New Law Reduces Ohio Consumers Damage Claims
Posted by
Scott SmithJanuary 03, 2007 4:50 PMWhat the Ohio Supreme Court giveth, the Ohio legislature taketh away. A recent Ohio Supreme Court Decision confirmed that Ohio's Consumer Sales Practice Act (CSPA), a thirty year old consumer protection law, allowed defrauded consumers to sue for non-economic damages like stress, aggravation and humiliation when unfairly taken advantage of by a business. Whitaker v. N.T. Automotive, Inc. 111 Ohio St. 3d 177, 2006-Ohio-5481.
Before the ink had dried from The Ohio Supreme Court written decision, members of the House Judiciary Committee of the Ohio legislature submitted Senate Bill 117 that took away what the Supreme Court recognized was compensable damages for consumer fraud.
In the Whitaker case, a consumer brought a claim against a car dealership. Within only a few days after Whitaker signed a deal to purchase a truck, the dealership said he would have to agree to less favorable loan terms. Whitaker refused and returned the vehicle. The dealership kept his $1500.00 deposit forcing Mr. Whitaker to file a lawsuit. Even then the dealership refused to return the $367.00 radio Whitaker had installed in the truck. A Summit County, Ohio jury found the dealership knowingly committed eleven violations of the Ohio consumer law and awarded him $105,000.00. Under the CSPA, because the acts were deemed deceptive or unconscionable, the award was tripled to $315,000.00. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the ruling.
The legislature, operating at warp speed, passed SB 117 a law that now limits a consumer's right to damages regardless of the stress, aggravation or humiliation caused by a business's unconscionable and unfair practices. Passage of this law marks yet another setback for Ohio consumers and enables Ohio businesses to take further advantage of an already pro-business climate. The Ohio Legislature has passed several laws in the past several years that have either limited or eliminated laws that protected the rights of those injured in car collisions or victimized through medical negligence.