A.
In addition to any prohibitions contained in this article or in any other local law, resolution, or ordinance, the following acts are prohibited.
B.
Abandonment or willful failure to perform, without justification, any contract engaged in by a licensee.
C.
Willful deviation from or disregard of contract specifications or estimates in any material respect without the consent of the contracting party.
D.
Engaging in deceptive or unconscionable trade practices in the solicitation or procurement of a contract, or in the preparation of or performance of a work estimate or invoice, or in the collection of debts incurred for consumer goods and services as defined below:
(1)
Deceptive trade practices. Any false, falsely disparaging or misleading oral or written statement, visual description, or other representation of any kind, which has the capacity, tendency or effect of deceiving or misleading consumers or the consuming public and is made in connection with a contract, preparation of or performance of a work estimate or invoice, in the extension of consumer credit, or in the collection of consumer debts. Deceptive trade practices, include but are not limited to:
(a)
Representations that:
[1]
Goods or services have sponsorship, approval, accessories, characteristics, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do not have.
[2]
The seller has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection that he/she does not have.
[3]
Goods are original or new if they are deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, or secondhand.
[4]
Goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model, if they are of another.
(b)
The use, in any oral or written representation, of exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity as to a material fact.
(c)
Failure to state a material fact if such failure deceived or tends to deceive.
(d)
Disparaging the goods, services or business of another by false or misleading representations of material facts.
(e)
Offering goods or services without intent to sell them.
(f)
Offering goods or services without intent to supply reasonably expectable public demand, unless the offer disclosed the limitation.
(g)
Making false or misleading representations of fact concerning the reason for, existence of or amounts of price reductions, or the price in comparison to prices of competitors or one's own price at a past or future time.
(h)
Falsely stating that a consumer transaction involves consumer rights, remedies or obligations.
(i)
Falsely stating that services, replacements or repairs are needed.
(j)
Falsely stating the reasons for offering or supplying goods or services at sale or discount prices.
(k)
The failure by any person engaged in the delivery, pickup, inspection or repair of consumer goods and/or services in the home to keep an appointment to perform the delivery of consumer goods and/or services on the day agreed upon with the consumer unless the consumer has received written or verbal notice of delay or cancellation before the end of the preceding business day. This provision shall not apply to the sale or delivery of utility services, home improvement contractors working under a contract, requests by consumers for same-day emergency service, cancellations of appointments by the consumer, delays caused by the consumer or failures to keep an appointment caused by strike or natural disaster. If unexpected circumstances, such as a mechanical breakdown, preclude notification by the end of the preceding business day, then no violation shall occur if actual notice is given to the consumer as soon as practicably possible.
(2)
Unconscionable trade practice. Any act or practice which unfairly takes advantage of the lack of knowledge, ability, experience, or capacity of the consumer or which results in a gross disparity between the value received by a consumer and the price paid by the consumer. "Unconscionable trade practice" shall include any acts or practices which unfairly take advantage of a sudden disaster, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, blizzards, explosions, airplane crashes, earthquakes, nuclear war, radiological emergencies, war, civil unrest or disobedience or acts of God and comparable acts which result in gross disparity between the value received by a consumer and the price ordinarily paid by the consumer in the absence of one of these above occurrences. The existence of such a disaster shall be established, for the purposes of this chapter, by a written declaration by either the County Executive or a majority of the entire membership of the County Legislature. The Director shall initiate investigation of such unconscionable trade practices immediately after any one of the natural disasters or other acts of God described above.