Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: States Impacted by Hurricane Sandy Issue Warnings Against Price Gouging, (Nov 1, 2012)
By Jody Coultas, J.D.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the attorneys general in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut have issued warnings to retailers, gas stations, taxi drivers, and others against price gouging. Price gouging, or the inflation of prices of necessary goods and services following a natural disaster, is illegal in each state.
An excessive price occurs where there is a gross disparity between the price during the market disruption and the price in the ordinary course of business 90 days prior to the market disruption; and the price is not attributable to additional costs, according to a press release issued by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen.
New York law prohibits increases in costs of essential items like food, water, gas, generators, batteries and flashlights, and services like transportation, during natural disasters or other events that disrupt the market, according to New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs had deployed investigators to visit retailers in response to approximately 100 calls from consumers alleging that gas stations, sellers of generators, hotels, and other merchants that sell other essential items, violated the state’s price gouging law after the Governor declared a state of emergency.
New Jersey was accepting complaints about price gouging through the State Division of Consumer Affairs ( www.nj.gov/oag/ca/index.htm; 800-242-5846).
Reports of suspected price gouging in Connecticut can be made to Attorney.General@ct.gov, or to the Department of Consumer Protection at dcp.foodandstandards@ct.gov.
New Yorkers may file complaints about potential price gouging activity at www.ag.ny.gov/questions-comments-attorney-general-eric-t-schneiderman.
News: ConsumerProtection