Colorado has adopted the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and enforces its provisions under Colorado Consumer Protection Act of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Under this Act, false, misrepresenting and misleading advertisements are prohibited deceptive trade practices pursuant to Section 6-1-105.
Private action by the actual or potential customers at loss from deceptive practices, class action and action by Attorney General and district attorneys are permissible under the Act.
Under Section 6-1-113 (2), damages awarded in a private civil action may be in the amount of actual damages sustained, five hundred dollars, or three times the amount of actual damages sustained, whichever is greater. In such cases, it should be established by clear and convincing evidence that the other party engaged in bad faith conduct.
Section 42-6-202 of the Colorado Revised Statutes prohibits any sort of tampering on the odometer of a vehicle with the intent to reduce the number of miles indicated on the odometer gauge.
C.R.S. 6-1-103
Attorney general and district attorneys concurrently responsible for enforcement
The attorney general and the district attorneys of the several judicial districts of this state are concurrently responsible for the enforcement of this article.
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C.R.S. 6-1-105
Deceptive Trade Practices
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(i) Advertises goods, services, or property with intent not to sell them as advertised;
(j) Advertises goods or services with intent not to supply reasonably expectable public demand, unless the advertisement discloses a limitation of quantity;
(k) Advertises under the guise of obtaining sales personnel when in fact the purpose is to first sell a product or service to the sales personnel applicant;
(l) Makes false or misleading statements of fact concerning the price of goods, services, or property or the reasons for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions;
(m) Fails to deliver to the customer at the time of an installment sale of goods or services a written order, contract, or receipt setting forth the name and address of the seller, the name and address of the organization which he represents, and all of the terms and conditions of the sale, including a description of the goods or services, stated in readable, clear, and unambiguous language;
(n) Employs “bait and switch” advertising, which is advertising accompanied by an effort to sell goods, services, or property other than those advertised or on terms other than those advertised…;
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(q) Contrives, prepares, sets up, operates, publicizes by means of advertisements, or promotes any pyramid promotional scheme;
(r) Advertises or otherwise represents that goods or services are guaranteed without clearly and conspicuously disclosing the nature and extent of the guarantee, any material conditions or limitations in the guarantee which are imposed by the guarantor, the manner in which the guarantor will perform, and the identity of such guarantor.
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C.R.S. 6-1-113
Damages
(1) The provisions of this article shall be available in a civil action for any claim against any person who has engaged in or caused another to engage in any deceptive trade practice listed in this article. An action under this section shall be available to any person who:
(a) Is an actual or potential consumer of the defendant’s goods, services, or property and is injured as a result of such deceptive trade practice,…
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(2) Except in a class action or a case brought for a violation of section 6-1-709, any person who, in a private civil action, is found to have engaged in or caused another to engage in any deceptive trade practice listed in this article shall be liable in an amount equal to the sum of:
(a) The greater of:
(I) The amount of actual damages sustained; or
(II) Five hundred dollars; or
(III) Three times the amount of actual damages sustained, if it is established by clear and convincing evidence that such person engaged in bad faith conduct; plus
(b) In the case of any successful action to enforce said liability, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court.
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C.R.S. 42-6-202
Prohibited acts
(1) It is unlawful for any person to advertise for sale, to sell, to use, or to install or to have installed any device which causes an odometer to register any mileage other than the true mileage driven. For purposes of this section, the true mileage driven is that mileage driven by the vehicle as registered by the odometer within the manufacturer’s designed tolerance.
(2) It is unlawful for any person or the person’s agent to disconnect, reset, or alter the odometer of any motor vehicle with the intent to change the number of miles indicated thereon.
