Enforcement -- Penalty.

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  • (1) The division shall enforce this chapter.
  • (2) In determining whether to investigate, contact, or request information from a person in the enforcement of this chapter, the division shall consider:
    • (a) whether a complaint, information, or evidence reasonably justifies further division inquiry;
    • (b) the burden contact, investigation, or providing information places on the person;
    • (c) the result of a previous investigation of the person, including whether the previous investigation suggests that the person did not violate this chapter;
    • (d) whether the person may benefit from receiving information about requirements under this chapter; and
    • (e) the potential gravity of harm to consumers, considering price, availability, and volume of a good or service.
  • (3) In enforcing this chapter, the division may not publicly disclose the identity of a person the division investigates unless:
    • (a) the person's identity is a matter of public record in an enforcement proceeding; or
    • (b) the person consents to public disclosure.
  • (4) In determining whether to impose penalties against a person who violates this chapter, the division shall consider:
    • (a) the person's cost of doing business not accounted for in the total cost to the person for the good or service, including costs associated with a decrease in the supply available to a person who relies on a high volume of sales;
    • (b) the person's efforts to comply with this chapter;
    • (c) whether the average price charged by the person during the 30-day period immediately preceding the day on which the state of emergency is declared is artificially deflated because the good or service was on sale for a lower price than the person customarily charges for the good or service; and
    • (d) any other factor that the division considers appropriate.
  • (5)
    • (a) If the division finds that a person has violated, or is violating, this chapter, the division may:
      • (i) issue a cease and desist order; and
      • (ii) subject to Subsection (5)(b), impose an administrative fine for each violation of this chapter.
    • (b) Each instance of charging an excessive price under Section 13-41-201 constitutes a separate violation, but in no case shall the administrative fine imposed under Subsection (5)(a) exceed double the excessive portion of the price the person charged.
  • (6) The division may sue in a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce an order under Subsection (5).
  • (7) In a suit brought under Subsection (5), if the division prevails, the court may award the division:
    • (a) court costs;
    • (b) attorney fees; and
    • (c) the division's costs incurred in the investigation of the violation of this chapter.
  • (8) All money received through an administrative fine imposed, or judgment obtained, under this section shall be deposited in the Consumer Protection Education and Training Fund created by Section 13-2-8.




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