TMCnews Featured Article

Companies operating in the United States need to stay on top of all the latest consumer protection laws, not just TCPA rules. That’s because some states have their own consumer protection acts. Take the Kansas Consumer Protection Act (KCPA), for example.

The KCPA is a piece of legislation designed to protect consumers in the state of Kansas from deceptive and unconscionable acts and practices. These usually constitute lies or misrepresentation about the supplier’s status or goods, or situations in which the supplier took advantage of the consumer’s physical limitations. Additionally, as K-Designers of Gold River, California, recently discovered, the KCPA isn’t limited to businesses that operate in Kansas—and neither is the Kansas No-Call Act.

According to a recent article from the Kansas City infoZine, home exterior remodeling contractor K-Designers has agreed to a consent judgment ordering the company to pay $110,000 in fees and civil penalties. As part of the ruling from Judge Larry D. Hendricks in Shawnee County District Court, the company must also refrain from further violations of the Kansas No-Call Act and the KCPA and is required to adopt policies to train its employees to ensure compliance with Kansas law. Finally, K-Designers must also make regular reports to the Attorney General.

When the Kansas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division began investigating K-Designers in 2013, it only had to do with potential violations of the Kansas No-Call Act. This is because the Attorney General received a complaint from a consumer in Manhattan, KS, who was on the Do-Not-Call list. Another three consumers filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office against the company, while another 34 were filed with the Federal Trade Commission.

These complaints claimed that K-Designers telemarketers were calling Kansas consumers on the Do Not Call registry and did not promptly discontinue the call when the consumers declined the company’s offer. The KCPA came into play when the Attorney General accused K-Designers of failing to deliver written prize notifications to Kansas consumers entered into the company’s ‘home improvement’ sweepstakes. Additionally, the company was believed to have made false and deceptive statements about the time-sensitive nature of its sales and discounts.

This all goes to show that a violation of any consumer protection act can lead to major trouble for businesses—especially if multiple infractions are discovered.