Pursuant to the common law doctrine of caveat emptor, the buyer could not recover from the seller for defects on the property that rendered the property unfit for ordinary purposes. Caveat emptor is Latin for let the buyer beware. Both Congress and state legislatures have enacted consumer protection laws intended to limit abuses inherent in the common law approach that would have the buyer beware. A person violating the provisions of a consumer protection statute is generally liable even though there was no intention to violate the law. Liability also exists even though the breach was a single occurrence rather than a pattern of repeated conduct
Proof of Consumer Status
A consumer claiming that there has been a violation of the consumer protection statute has the burden of proving that the statutory definition of consumer has been satisfied. The word consumer refers to individuals or households that use goods and services generated within the economy.
Action by Consumer
Some consumer protection statutes provide that a consumer who is harmed by a violation of the statutes may sue the business or organization that acted improperly. The consumer may sue to recover a specified penalty or may bring an action on behalf of consumers as a class. Consumer protection statutes are often designed to rely on private litigation as an aid to enforcement of the statutory provisions. In such an action, a consumer must show that the defendant engaged in misconduct of the kind prohibited by the applicable consumer protection statute.