2005 California Civil Code Sections 1770 CHAPTER 3. DECEPTIVE PRACTICES

1770.  (a) The following unfair methods of competition and unfair or
deceptive acts or practices undertaken by any person in a
transaction intended to result or which results in the sale or lease
of goods or services to any consumer are unlawful:
   (1) Passing off goods or services as those of another.
   (2) Misrepresenting the source, sponsorship, approval, or
certification of goods or services.
   (3) Misrepresenting the affiliation, connection, or association
with, or certification by, another.
   (4) Using deceptive representations or designations of geographic
origin in connection with goods or services.
   (5) Representing that goods or services have sponsorship,
approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities
which they do not have or that a person has a sponsorship, approval,
status, affiliation, or connection which he or she does not have.
   (6) Representing that goods are original or new if they have
deteriorated unreasonably or are altered, reconditioned, reclaimed,
used, or secondhand.
   (7) Representing that goods or services are of a particular
standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a particular style
or model, if they are of another.
   (8) Disparaging the goods, services, or business of another by
false or misleading representation of fact.
   (9) Advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as
advertised.
   (10) Advertising goods or services with intent not to supply
reasonably expectable demand, unless the advertisement discloses a
limitation of quantity.
   (11) Advertising furniture without clearly indicating that it is
unassembled if that is the case.
   (12) Advertising the price of unassembled furniture without
clearly indicating the assembled price of that furniture if the same
furniture is available assembled from the seller.
   (13) Making false or misleading statements of fact concerning
reasons for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions.
   (14) Representing that a transaction confers or involves rights,
remedies, or obligations which it does not have or involve, or which
are prohibited by law.
   (15) Representing that a part, replacement, or repair service is
needed when it is not.
   (16) Representing that the subject of a transaction has been
supplied in accordance with a previous representation when it has
not.
   (17) Representing that the consumer will receive a rebate,
discount, or other economic benefit, if the earning of the benefit is
contingent on an event to occur subsequent to the consummation of
the transaction.
   (18) Misrepresenting the authority of a salesperson,
representative, or agent to negotiate the final terms of a
transaction with a consumer.
   (19) Inserting an unconscionable provision in the contract.
   (20) Advertising that a product is being offered at a specific
price plus a specific percentage of that price unless (1) the total
price is set forth in the advertisement, which may include, but is
not limited to, shelf tags, displays, and media advertising, in a
size larger than any other price in that advertisement, and (2) the
specific price plus a specific percentage of that price represents a
markup from the seller's costs or from the wholesale price of the
product.  This subdivision shall not apply to in-store advertising by
businesses which are open only to members or cooperative
organizations organized pursuant to Division 3 (commencing with
Section 12000) of Title 1 of the Corporations Code where more than 50
percent of purchases are made at the specific price set forth in the
advertisement.
   (21) Selling or leasing goods in violation of Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 1797.8) of Title 1.7.
   (22) (A) Disseminating an unsolicited prerecorded message by
telephone without an unrecorded, natural voice first informing the
person answering the telephone of the name of the caller or the
organization being represented, and either the address or the
telephone number of the caller, and without obtaining the consent of
that person to listen to the prerecorded message.
   (B) This subdivision does not apply to a message disseminated to a
business associate, customer, or other person having an established
relationship with the person or organization making the call, to a
call for the purpose of collecting an existing obligation, or to any
call generated at the request of the recipient.
   (23) The home solicitation, as defined in subdivision (h) of
Section 1761, of a consumer who is a senior citizen where a loan is
made encumbering the primary residence of that consumer for the
purposes of paying for home improvements and where the transaction is
part of a pattern or practice in violation of either subsection (h)
or (i) of Section 1639 of Title 15 of the United States Code or
subsection (e) of Section 226.32 of Title 12 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.
   A third party shall not be liable under this subdivision unless
(1) there was an agency relationship between the party who engaged in
home solicitation and the third party or (2) the third party had
actual knowledge of, or participated in, the unfair or deceptive
transaction.  A third party who is a holder in due course under a
home solicitation transaction shall not be liable under this
subdivision.
   (b) (1) It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a
mortgage broker or lender, directly or indirectly, to use a home
improvement contractor to negotiate the terms  of any loan that is
secured, whether in whole or in part, by the residence of the
borrower and which is used to finance a home improvement contract or
any portion thereof.  For purposes of this subdivision, "mortgage
broker or lender" includes a finance lender licensed pursuant to the
California Finance Lenders Law (Division 9 (commencing with Section
22000) of the Financial Code), a residential mortgage lender licensed
pursuant to the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act
(Division 20 (commencing with Section 50000) of the Financial Code),
or a real estate broker licensed under the Real Estate Law (Division
4 (commencing with Section 10000) of the Business and Professions
Code).
   (2) This section shall not be construed to either authorize or
prohibit a home improvement contractor from referring a consumer to a
mortgage broker or lender by this subdivision.  However, a home
improvement contractor may refer a consumer to a mortgage lender or
broker if that referral does not violate Section 7157 of the Business
and Professions Code or any other provision of law.  A mortgage
lender or broker may purchase an executed home improvement contract
if that purchase does not violate Section 7157 of the Business and
Professions Code or any other provision of law.  Nothing in this
paragraph shall have any effect on the application of Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 1801) of Title 2 to a home improvement
transaction or the financing thereof.