Washington DC consumers have some of the strongest legal protections in the country. The DC Consumer Protection Procedures Act allows recovery of treble damages or $1,500 per violation — whichever is greater — plus attorney fees against any merchant engaging in unfair or deceptive trade practices. The FCRA entitles DC residents to sue credit bureaus for inaccurate reporting. Attorney Fraser pursues both in federal and DC Superior Court.
Free case evaluation. FCRA claims have a 2-year statute of limitations. DC CPPA claims have a 3-year limit. Do not delay.
Multiple causes of action available
The DC CPPA is one of the strongest consumer protection statutes in the nation. It provides treble damages or $1,500 per violation — whichever is greater — plus attorney fees and costs. Unlike the federal FTC Act, the CPPA allows private enforcement. You can sue directly.
The DC Consumer Protection Procedures Act covers any “trade practice” — a term the DC Council defined as broadly as possible. It encompasses selling goods or services, lending money, collecting debts, landlord-tenant relationships, and virtually every commercial transaction that touches a DC consumer. If a business dealt with you unfairly, the CPPA likely applies.
The statute imposes strict liability for deceptive practices. You do not need to prove that the merchant intended to deceive you. You do not need to prove that the merchant knew its conduct was wrongful. If the practice was deceptive, unfair, or unconscionable, the merchant is liable. Period. This is a critical distinction from many state consumer protection laws that require proof of intent or knowledge.
The damages framework makes the CPPA particularly powerful for DC consumers. The statute awards treble damages (three times your actual damages) or $1,500 per violation — whichever amount is greater. This means that even if your actual out-of-pocket loss is small, each violation carries a minimum floor of $1,500. When a merchant commits multiple violations — as is common in debt collection, predatory lending, and deceptive sales practices — these per-violation damages accumulate rapidly.
Attorney fees and costs are also recoverable. This fee-shifting provision means that an attorney can take your case on a contingency or fee-shifting basis, because the statute requires the losing defendant to pay your attorney. You do not need to pay legal fees out of pocket to enforce your rights under the CPPA.
The CPPA is broader than the federal FTC Act in a crucial way: the FTC Act does not allow private individuals to sue. Only the Federal Trade Commission itself can bring enforcement actions. The DC CPPA, by contrast, gives every DC consumer a private right of action. You can file your own lawsuit in DC Superior Court and recover your own damages, without waiting for a government agency to act on your behalf.
Common CPPA claims Attorney Fraser handles include: deceptive debt collection practices, predatory lending terms, unauthorized charges and fees, bait-and-switch pricing, misrepresentations about goods or services, and failure to honor warranties or return policies. The breadth of the statute means that if a business treated you unfairly in Washington DC, there is likely a viable CPPA claim.
Read more: DC Consumer Protection Procedures Act — Full Guide
3x actual damages or $1,500/violation — whichever is greater
No need to prove intent — deceptive practice alone is sufficient
Fee-shifting — defendant pays your attorney costs if you prevail
The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees your right to accurate credit reporting. When a credit bureau — Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion — reports inaccurate information on your credit file, and that inaccuracy causes you harm, you have the right to sue under federal law. Attorney Fraser handles FCRA litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and in DC Superior Court.
The FCRA establishes a structured dispute process that must be followed before litigation:
Attorney Fraser sees these FCRA violations repeatedly in DC consumer cases:
The FCRA provides multiple categories of damages:
Read more: FCRA Credit Report Errors After Bankruptcy | FCRA DC Circuit Developments
Washington DC has its own debt collection statute that goes beyond the federal FDCPA in one critical way: it covers original creditors, not just third-party debt collectors. The federal FDCPA only applies to third-party collectors — companies that purchase or are assigned debts for collection. The DC statute applies to the original creditor as well. This means your bank, your credit card company, your landlord, and your medical provider are all subject to DC debt collection law.
D.C. Code § 28-3814 prohibits a comprehensive list of collection abuses:
The DC debt collection statute interacts with the CPPA to allow treble damages. When a debt collector violates § 28-3814, that violation also constitutes a deceptive trade practice under the CPPA. Attorney Fraser evaluates every debt collection case under both DC law and the federal FDCPA to identify the combination of claims that maximizes the client’s recovery.
For example, a single abusive collection call could give rise to claims under the FDCPA ($1,000 statutory damages + actual damages + attorney fees), under DC § 28-3814, and under the DC CPPA ($1,500 per violation or treble damages). When a collector engages in a pattern of abusive conduct — multiple calls, multiple letters, multiple misrepresentations — the per-violation damages under the CPPA alone can exceed $10,000.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint process is not just a regulatory mechanism — it is a strategic litigation tool that Attorney Fraser uses as part of an overall enforcement strategy. Filing a CFPB complaint creates a documented paper trail that becomes evidence in subsequent litigation.
How CFPB complaints work in practice: When you file a CFPB complaint, the company must respond within 15 days. That response becomes a formal admission or denial that can be used in court. If the company admits the problem but fails to fix it, you have documented evidence of willfulness. If the company denies the problem, you can use its denial to demonstrate bad faith when the evidence later proves otherwise.
The CFPB complaint database is publicly searchable. This is a powerful tool in litigation because it reveals patterns of violations. If Attorney Fraser is suing a credit bureau for failing to investigate your dispute, and the CFPB database shows hundreds of similar complaints from other consumers about the same bureau’s failure to investigate, that pattern evidence strengthens your individual case. It undercuts the bureau’s defense that the failure was an isolated mistake.
Attorney Fraser files CFPB complaints as part of the overall litigation strategy, not as a substitute for it. The CFPB complaint process is administrative — it does not result in a damages award to you. But it creates evidence, generates responses, and builds a record that makes the subsequent court case stronger. Every CFPB complaint filed is another piece of the litigation puzzle.
The CFPB complaint is also useful as a pre-litigation demand tool. Companies that ignore direct demand letters often respond more quickly and more substantively to CFPB complaints because the CFPB tracks response rates and can take enforcement action against companies with poor response records.
Attorney Fraser does not file single-count complaints. Every consumer protection case is evaluated for multiple overlapping claims that create maximum settlement pressure and maximum recovery. The three-layer approach combines federal, DC, and bankruptcy law into a single coordinated strategy.
$1,000 statutory damages per lawsuit against third-party debt collectors, plus actual damages and attorney fees.
The FDCPA is the baseline federal claim. It covers third-party collectors only, but provides reliable statutory damages regardless of actual harm. Attorney fees are mandatory for prevailing plaintiffs.
Treble damages or $1,500 per violation (whichever is greater) against any merchant or creditor, plus attorney fees.
The CPPA dramatically expands recovery beyond the FDCPA. It covers original creditors, not just third-party collectors. Multiple violations mean per-violation damages stack. A pattern of deceptive conduct can produce five-figure damages from the CPPA alone.
Actual damages + punitive damages + attorney fees against any creditor who violates the automatic stay or discharge injunction.
Filing bankruptcy can trigger violations that create additional causes of action. A creditor who continues collection after a stay or reports a discharged debt violates federal bankruptcy law — adding a third layer of liability.
Filing overlapping claims under federal, DC, and bankruptcy law creates strong settlement pressure. Defendants face exposure on multiple fronts simultaneously. The combined damages — FDCPA statutory, CPPA treble, and bankruptcy punitive — often exceed the cost of settling. Attorney Fraser structures every case to maximize this leverage, ensuring clients receive the maximum recovery available under the law.
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