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Health & Fitness

Perez v Professionally Green, LLC ___ NJ ___ (A-66-11) (decided September 12, 2013).

The New Jersey Supreme Court deals a serious blow to Consumer Fraud Act claims made by homeowners against home improvement contractors.

On September 12, 2013, a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a homeowner is not entitled to an award of attorney fees when a contractor commits a violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act if the homeowner has no out-of-pocket expenses related to the violation. 


Perez v Professionally Green, LLC ___ NJ ___ (A-66-11) (decided September 12, 2013) (official citation not yet available) 

The Perez case involved a claim against a home improvement contractor who did not include in the contract, a start date or an end date for the work as required by New Jersey law. The homeowner did not prove any damages related to the Consumer Fraud Act violation. The trial court refused to award attorney fees against the contractor. The homeowner appealed and the Appellate Division reversed - ruling that a homeowner is entitled to attorney fees if the plaintiff proves a violation of the Act. The contractor appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the homeowner is not entitled to attorney fees if they have no damages arising from the violation.

From a business perspective, the decision is logical. From a consumer protection perspective, the ruling means that contractors can violate certain parts of the Consumer Fraud Act without fear of any consequences.

The decision is "logical" because, in any lawsuit, a plaintiff must prove all of the elements of the cause of action. For example, to prove a breach of contract, a plaintiff must prove: (1) the existence of a contract; (2) that the defendant violated one or more terms of the contract; and (3) that the plaintiff has damages related to the defendant's breach of contract. To prove the tort of negligence, a plaintiff must prove: (1) a duty to do or refrain from doing some act; (2) that the defendant violated the duty; and (3) damages related to the defendant's breach of duty. If a plaintiff cannot prove all three elements, then the plaintiff loses. 

Under the Consumer Fraud Act (N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 - 20), a plaintiff must prove: (1) a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act and (2) an ascertainable loss related to the violation. An ascertainable loss is an out of pocket expense - something that the homeowner had to, or will have to, pay to fix the violation.

As originally enacted, the Consumer Fraud Act could only be enforced by an action initiated by the State of New Jersey. There was no private right to sue wrongdoers. Homeowners could not sue contractors, rather only the State of New Jersey could. The Consumer Fraud Act was later amended to provide for a private cause of action. The private right of action included the right to receive treble (3X) damages and an award of attorney fees. (N.J.S.A. 56:8-19) The law provided for an award of attorney fees because, among other reasons, the amount of money in dispute was often small. Fee shifting enable homeowners to hire an attorney to represent them in cases that otherwise would not warrant the expense of hiring private counsel. And, it was a way for the State to encourage private attorneys to enforce the Consumer Fraud Act for the State.

Over the years, there was a split in the Courts as to whether a homeowner could be awarded attorney fees if the homeowner could not prove damages related to the violation of the Consumer Fraud Act. One line of decisions reasoned that if all of the elements of the cause action - i.e., both a violation of the CFA and damages related to the violation - could not be proved, then the plaintiff received nothing. Another line of cases reasoned that if a homeowner did not have damages, but proves that a contractor violated the CFA, then the contractor had to pay the homeowner's attorney fees. (Weinberg v. Sprint Corp., 173 N.J. 233 (2002); Pron v. Carlton Pools, Inc., 373 N.J. Super. 103 (App. Div. 2004)) In Perez, the New Jersey Supreme Court has sided with the first line of cases - ruling that damages are an essential element of the cause of action and if the plaintiff cannot prove all of the elements of the cause of action, then the plaintiff cannot be awarded attorney fees.

While the Perez decision is logical - applying the same standard to consumer protection cases as is applied to contract and tort claims - it creates a situation in which contractor may now violate the Consumer Fraud Act with no consequences. An act of consumer fraud is generally defined to include three types of violations - a misrepresentation of fact, an intentional concealment of a material fact or a violation of certain administrative code provisions promulgated pursuant to the Consumer Fraud Act. The most common violation is a violation of the administrative code requirements applicable to home improvement contractors. The Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) regulations require that a contractor provide the homeowner with the following:

• A written contract signed by the homeowner;
• Provide for a three day right of rescission;
• Provide his contractor registration number;
• Provide a start date for the work;
• Provide an end date for the work;
• Provide contact information for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs;
• Provide information relating to the contractor's general liability insurance;
• Specify what goods are to be provided and/or what services are to be performed;
• Specify what warranties are to be provided.

A violation of the regulatory requirements rarely results in a monetary loss to the homeowner. For example, not knowing the contractor's registration number is unlikely to cause damages to the homeowner. Pursuant to the Perez decision, contractors may now ignore these regulatory requirements. Without fee shifting, there is no incentive for a home improvement contractor to comply with the regulations. 

In response to the Perez decision, the New Jersey legislature will need to address what should happen when a home improvement contractor ignores Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) regulations. The Legislature may need to either legislatively overturn Perez so that attorney fees are awarded for any violation of the CFA or amend the CFA to provide for penalties for violations of the HIC regulations.

Until the legislature fixes the problem, a homeowner should look for an experienced consumer protection attorney to focus on the homeowner's damages claim so that the homeowner can get both treble damages and attorney fees. 

Finally, it should be noted that the Perez decision does not affect those claims in which the acts of a home improvement contractor result in actual damages to the homeowner. It applies only to those violations in which the homeowner has no out of pocket expenses due to the violation.

For more information on New Jersey consumer protection laws, contact Michael Millar, Esq.

E: michael@michaelmillar.com

T: 732-914-9114

F: 973-457-0269
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