Consumer Complaints - Consumer Affairs - Business & Professions - CA

Section § 325

This section assigns the director the responsibility to take consumer complaints about various issues in trade or business practices. These include unfair competition, unsafe products or services, and regulatory violations by licensed professionals. It also covers complaints about private postsecondary education, such as issues with the administration of the Student Tuition Recovery Fund. The complaints should align with the chapter's goals.

It shall be the duty of the director to receive complaints from consumers concerning (a) unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices undertaken by any person in the conduct of any trade or commerce; (b) the production, distribution, sale, and lease of any goods and services undertaken by any person which may endanger the public health, safety, or welfare; (c) violations of provisions of this code relating to businesses and professions licensed by any agency of the department, and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; (d) student concerns related to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education’s performance of its responsibilities, including concerns that arise related to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education’s handling of a complaint or its administration of the Student Tuition Recovery Fund, established in Article 14 (commencing with Section 94923) of Chapter 8 of Part 59 of Division 10 of Title 3 of the Education Code; and (e) other matters consistent with the purposes of this chapter, whenever appropriate.

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Section § 325.3

This law requires the director to take in complaints from consumers about specific services outlined in a different section of the Public Utilities Code.

In addition to the duties prescribed by Section 325, it shall be the duty of the director to receive complaints from consumers concerning services provided by the entities described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 234 of the Public Utilities Code.

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Section § 326

This section explains how consumer complaints are handled. When a complaint is received, the director can inform the accused about the complaint and ask them to resolve it. The director also sends valid complaints to agencies best suited to help, whether they're local, state, or federal. If there seems to be a breach of law or multiple complaints indicating a pattern, the director will pass these on to law enforcement or regulatory bodies and may even ask the Attorney General to take legal action. The director is also responsible for spotting trends in complaints and following up on any actions taken.

(a) Upon receipt of any complaint pursuant to Section 325, the director may notify the person against whom the complaint is made of the nature of the complaint and may request appropriate relief for the consumer.

(b) The director shall also transmit any valid complaint to the local, state or federal agency whose authority provides the most effective means to secure the relief.

The director shall, if appropriate, advise the consumer of the action taken on the complaint and of any other means which may be available to the consumer to secure relief.

(c) If the director receives a complaint or receives information from any source indicating a probable violation of any law, rule, or order of any regulatory agency of the state, or if a pattern of complaints from consumers develops, the director shall transmit any complaint he or she considers to be valid to any appropriate law enforcement or regulatory agency and any evidence or information he or she may have concerning the probable violation or pattern of complaints or request the Attorney General to undertake appropriate legal action. It shall be the continuing duty of the director to discern patterns of complaints and to ascertain the nature and extent of action taken with respect to the probable violations or pattern of complaints.

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Section § 328

This law is about setting up rules to help decide which complaints about professionals get looked into first. It's called the Consumer Protection Enforcement Initiative. The rules help figure out which complaints should go to a special investigation team and which ones health boards can handle themselves. However, these rules don't apply to the Medical Board of California or the Podiatric Medical Board. By July 1, 2019, they added a rule to make sure complaints about serious harm to children are treated as the highest priority.

(a) In order to implement the Consumer Protection Enforcement Initiative of 2010, the director, through the Division of Investigation, shall implement “Complaint Prioritization Guidelines” for boards to utilize in prioritizing their respective complaint and investigative workloads. The guidelines shall be used to determine the referral of complaints to the division and those that are retained by the health care boards for investigation.

(b) Neither the Medical Board of California nor the Podiatric Medical Board of California shall be required to utilize the guidelines implemented pursuant to subdivision (a).

(c) On or before July 1, 2019, the director shall amend the guidelines implemented pursuant to subdivision (a) to include the category of “allegations of serious harm to a minor” under the “urgent” or “highest priority” level.

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