10-22-09 UNITED CONSUMER FINANCIAL SERVICES CO. V.
WILLIAM CARBO v. A&M MERCHANDISING, INC.
A-5501-06T2
The dispute that gave rise to this class action litigation
is about the content and form of a contract and notice of
cancellation, which was approved by a single creditor and used
by multiple door-to-door sellers in retail installment sales of
vacuum cleaners. The appeal is from a judgment awarding
injunctive relief and a civil penalty in the amount of $100 to
each member of the class pursuant to the Truth-in-Consumer
Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA), N.J.S.A. 56:12-14 to
-18, based upon violations of consumer rights provided in the
Retail Installment Sales Act (RISA), N.J.S.A. 17:16C-1 to -61,
and the Door-to-Door Retail Installment Sales Act (DDRISA),
N.J.S.A. 17:16C-61.1 to -61.9.
We reject the claim that class certification was improper
because only one of the several sellers was involved in the
purchase made by the class representative. We affirm the TCCWNA
penalty because the contract violated a consumer right provided
by RISA and the aggregate award was neither unconstitutionally
excessive nor a basis for decertification of the class. We
modify the injunctive relief because the Federal Trade
Commission regulations, 16 C.F.R. §§ 429.1 to 429.3, preempt and
preclude enforcement of several but not all of the provisions of
DDRISA.
Assistant Editor: Umair Hussain
