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Unfair and Deceptive Practices (UDAP)

The consumer-protection laws, one federal and one in every state, that make it illegal for a business to mislead you or treat you unfairly - and the state versions are the ones a consumer can actually sue under.

Informational only - this is not legal advice. These definitions explain general legal vocabulary in plain English. They are not advice about your situation, reading them creates no attorney-client relationship, and the law differs from state to state and changes over time. For advice you can rely on, speak to a lawyer licensed in your state.

What it means

"UDAP" is shorthand for unfair or deceptive acts or practices, the conduct that consumer-protection statutes prohibit. A practice is deceptive when a representation or omission is likely to mislead a reasonable consumer about something that matters to their decision - a false claim, a hidden fee, a misleading picture, a material fact left out. A practice is unfair when it causes substantial injury that consumers cannot reasonably avoid and that is not outweighed by benefits, which is a broader and more contested idea. Neither requires proof that the business meant to mislead anyone.

The federal statute is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and gives a consumer no right to sue on their own. The right to sue comes from state law: every state has a consumer-protection statute of its own, variously called a UDAP act, a consumer fraud act, an unfair trade practices act or a consumer legal remedies act. They differ in what they cover, whether a consumer must show reliance or actual loss, and what can be recovered - many allow multiplied damages and attorney's fees, which is what makes a small claim viable.

These statutes are the general-purpose tool of consumer law. Where a specific law exists for the problem - debt collection, credit reporting, warranties - it usually applies first, and a UDAP claim is pleaded alongside it. Where no specific law fits, the UDAP statute is frequently the only claim available.

Where this comes from

Federally, section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), declares unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce unlawful and, at § 45(n), defines unfairness; enforcement is by the Commission and there is no private right of action. The consumer's own claim arises under state statute - for example California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1750 and following, and its Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 - and the elements and remedies vary by state.

When people hire a lawyer for this

This is the claim to ask about when something felt wrong and no specific statute seems to name it - a fee that was never disclosed, a service that was not what was advertised, a contract term you were told meant something else. A lawyer's first task is which state statute applies and what it requires you to show, since the answer decides whether the claim is worth a demand letter, a small-claims filing, or nothing.

Find a lawyer for this in your state

Choose your state. Each link opens the directory page for the city in that state with the most currently published law firms in this practice area; a +n beside the city is how many other cities in the state also have one. The list is generated when this page loads, so a state whose listings have lapsed drops out rather than becoming a dead link.

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Part of the LawyerLand plain-English legal glossary. Definitions are written from primary sources - statutes and court rules - and each entry states the authority it rests on, or says plainly when the doctrine is state law with no national rule.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, civil legal aid programmes provide free help with many of these problems: civil legal aid programmes by state.

Related free reference tools: statute of limitations for a personal-injury claim, by state, quoted from each state's official text - part of LawyerLand's legal reference tools.