2010 California Code
Business and Professions Code
Article 1. False Advertising In General

17500.  It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or
association, or any employee thereof with intent directly or
indirectly to dispose of real or personal property or to perform
services, professional or otherwise, or anything of any nature
whatsoever or to induce the public to enter into any obligation
relating thereto, to make or disseminate or cause to be made or
disseminated before the public in this state, or to make or
disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated from this state
before the public in any state, in any newspaper or other
publication, or any advertising device, or by public outcry or
proclamation, or in any other manner or means whatever, including
over the Internet, any statement, concerning that real or personal
property or those services, professional or otherwise, or concerning
any circumstance or matter of fact connected with the proposed
performance or disposition thereof, which is untrue or misleading,
and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care
should be known, to be untrue or misleading, or for any person, firm,
or corporation to so make or disseminate or cause to be so made or
disseminated any such statement as part of a plan or scheme with the
intent not to sell that personal property or those services,
professional or otherwise, so advertised at the price stated therein,
or as so advertised. Any violation of the provisions of this section
is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500), or by both that imprisonment and fine.




17500.1.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no trade or
professional association, or state agency, state board, or state
commission within the Department of Consumer Affairs shall enact any
rule, regulation, or code of professional ethics which shall restrict
or prohibit advertising by any commercial or professional person,
firm, partnership or corporation which does not violate the
provisions of Section 17500 of the Business and Professions Code, or
which is not prohibited by other provisions of law.
   The provisions of this section shall not apply to any rules or
regulations heretofore or hereafter formulated pursuant to Section
6076.



17500.3.  (a) It is unlawful for any person to solicit a sale or
order for sale of goods or services at the residence of a prospective
buyer, in person or by means of telephone, without clearly,
affirmatively and expressly revealing at the time the person
initially contacts the prospective buyer, and before making any other
statement, except a greeting, or asking the prospective buyer any
other questions, that the purpose of the contact is to effect a sale,
by doing all of the following:
   (1) Stating the identity of the person making the solicitation.
   (2) Stating the trade name of the person represented by the person
making the solicitation.
   (3) Stating the kind of goods or services being offered for sale.
   (4) And, in the case of an "in person" contact, the person making
the solicitation shall, in addition to meeting the requirements of
paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), show or display identification which
states the information required by paragraphs (1) and (2) as well as
the address of the place of business of one of such persons so
identified.
   (b) It is unlawful for any person, in soliciting a sale or order
for the sale of goods or services at the residence of a prospective
buyer, in person or by telephone, to use any plan, scheme, or ruse
which misrepresents his true status or mission for the purpose of
making such sale or order for the sale of goods or services.
   (c) In addition to any other penalties or remedies applicable to
violations of this section, the intentional violation of this section
shall entitle persons bound to a contract, when there was a sales
approach or presentation or both in which such intentional violation
of this section took place, to damages of two times the amount of the
sale price or up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250), whichever is
greater, but in no case shall such damages be less than fifty dollars
($50); provided, however, that as a condition precedent to
instituting such action hereunder against the person represented by
the person making the solicitation, the aggrieved party shall, in
writing, demand that the person represented by the solicitor
terminate such contract and return any and all payments made
thereunder, and that the person represented by the solicitor shall
have refused within a reasonable time, such termination and return.
If the person represented by the person making the solicitation
elects to terminate, he shall return to the aggrieved party payments
received for any and all goods, and for services not rendered, and
upon return of such payments, the aggrieved party shall return any
and all goods received under the contract. For the purposes of this
section, a reasonable time shall mean 20 business days from the date
of demand. This subdivision shall not apply to a cause of action
commenced under any other provision of law, including, but not
limited to, a cause of action commenced pursuant to Section 382 of
the Code of Civil Procedure or Section 1781 of the Civil Code.
   Any rights under this subdivision shall be waived if subsequent to
the signing of the contract the party bound by the contract states
that identification, as required by this section, was given.
   (d) Persons represented by the person making the solicitation
shall keep and maintain copies of all demands for termination for
violation of this section for a period of one year from date of
receipt. Failure to maintain such records shall create a presumption
affecting the burden of proof that demand for termination had been
properly made.
   (e) Where any provision of law provides a penalty for the
violation of any offense specified in this section, it shall be a
defense to the imposition of such penalty as to any defendant who did
not commit the act or acts constituting the offense that such
defendant did not know, and with the exercise of reasonable care
could not have known, that the act was committed, which constitutes
the violation of this section.
   (f) As used in this section "person" includes any individual,
firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization,
but does not include any nonprofit charitable organization, or any
person selling any intangibles, or any items defined in Section 1590
(a)(1), of Title 18 of the California Administrative Code as it read
on July 15, 1972.
   (g) This section shall not prohibit nor authorize the enactment by
the governing body of any city, county, or city and county, of
ordinances relating to home solicitations which are more restrictive
of such solicitation than the provisions of this section.




17500.5.  (a) It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or
association to falsely represent by advertisement the quantity of any
article so advertised that will be sold to any one customer on his
demand in a single transaction, and willfully or negligently to fail
to include in such advertisement a statement that any restriction
that is in fact put upon the quantity of any article so advertised
that is sold or offered for sale to any one customer on his demand in
a single transaction.
   (b) Any person, firm, corporation, or association who, by means of
such false or negligent advertisement or publicity, induces any
individual retail purchaser and consumer to enter any place of
business designated therein seeking to buy any article so advertised
or publicized, and then refuses to sell to such person the article at
the price advertised in any quantity then available for sale on said
premises, shall be liable to each person so induced and refused, for
the losses and expenses thereby incurred, and the sum of fifty
dollars ($50) in addition thereto.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall affect any right a seller may
have to refuse to extend credit to a customer, and this section shall
not be applicable to a customer purchasing for resale.
   (d) The provisions of subdivision (b) are applicable only to
actions brought in the name of, and on behalf of, a single plaintiff
and shall not be applicable in multiple plaintiff or class actions.




17501.  For the purpose of this article the worth or value of any
thing advertised is the prevailing market price, wholesale if the
offer is at wholesale, retail if the offer is at retail, at the time
of publication of such advertisement in the locality wherein the
advertisement is published.
   No price shall be advertised as a former price of any advertised
thing, unless the alleged former price was the prevailing market
price as above defined within three months next immediately preceding
the publication of the advertisement or unless the date when the
alleged former price did prevail is clearly, exactly and
conspicuously stated in the advertisement.



17502.  This article does not apply to any visual or sound radio
broadcasting station, to any internet service provider or commercial
online service, or to any publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or
other publication, who broadcasts or publishes, including over the
Internet, an advertisement in good faith, without knowledge of its
false, deceptive, or misleading character.



17504.  (a) Any person, partnership, corporation, firm, joint stock
company, association, or organization engaged in business in this
state as a retail seller who sells any consumer good or service which
is sold only in multiple units and which is advertised by price
shall advertise those goods or services at the price of the minimum
multiple unit in which they are offered.
   (b) Nothing contained in subdivision (a) shall prohibit a retail
seller from advertising any consumer good or service for sale at a
single unit price where the goods or services are sold only in
multiple units and not in single units as long as the advertisement
also discloses, at least as prominently, the price of the minimum
multiple unit in which they are offered.
   (c) For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), "consumer good"
means any article which is used or bought for use primarily for
personal, family, or household purposes, but does not include any
food item.
   (d) For the purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), "consumer
service" means any service which is obtained for use primarily for
personal, family, or household purposes.
   (e) For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), "retail seller"
means an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, joint stock
company, association, organization, or other legal relationship which
engages in the business of selling consumer goods or services to
retail buyers.


17505.  No person shall state, in an advertisement of his goods,
that he is a producer, manufacturer, processor, wholesaler, or
importer, or that he owns or controls a factory or other source of
supply of goods when such is not the fact, and no person shall in any
other manner misrepresent the character, extent, volume, or type of
his business.



17505.2.  (a) It is unlawful for a person to represent himself or
herself as a recreation therapist, to represent the services he or
she performs as recreation therapy, or to use terms set forth in
subdivision (c) in connection with his or her services, name, or
place of business, unless he or she meets all of the following
requirements:
   (1) Graduation from an accredited college or university with a
minimum of a baccalaureate degree in recreation therapy or in
recreation and leisure studies with a specialization in recreation
therapy. Alternatively, a person who does not have one of the
preceding degrees may qualify if he or she has a baccalaureate degree
in a specialization acceptable for certification or eligible for
certification by any accrediting body specified in paragraph (2).
   (2) Current certification or eligibility for certification as a
recreation therapist by the California Board of Recreation and Park
Certification or by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation
Certification, Inc.
   (b) No person shall represent himself or herself as a recreation
therapist assistant, or represent the services he or she performs as
being in any way related to recreation therapy, unless he or she at a
minimum has current certification, or has eligibility for
certification, by the California Board of Recreation and Park
Certification or by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation
Certification, Inc., as a recreation therapist assistant.
   (c) A person who does not meet the requirements of subdivision (a)
or (b) may not use any of the following words or abbreviations in
connection with his or her services, name, or place of business:
   (1) Recreation therapist registered.
   (2) Recreation therapist certified.
   (3) Certified therapeutic recreation specialist.
   (4) Recreation therapist.
   (5) Recreation therapist assistant registered.
   (6) Certified therapeutic recreation assistant.
   (7) RTR.
   (8) RTC.
   (9) CTRS.
   (10) RT.
   (11) RTAR.
   (12) CTRA.
   (d) For purposes of subdivision (c), the abbreviation RT shall not
be construed to include rehabilitation therapist or respiratory
therapist.
   (e) Any person injured by a violation of this section may bring a
civil action and may recover one thousand five hundred dollars
($1,500) for the first violation and two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) for each subsequent violation. This is the sole
remedy for a violation of this section.



17506.  As used in this chapter, "person" includes any individual,
partnership, firm, association, or corporation.



17506.5.  As used in this chapter:
   (a) "Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs" includes any
commission, bureau, division, or other similarly constituted agency
within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
   (b) "Local consumer affairs agency" means and includes any city or
county body which primarily provides consumer protection services.



17507.  It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or
association to make an advertising claim or representation pertaining
to more than one article of merchandise or type of service, within
the same class of merchandise or service, if any price set forth in
such claim or representation does not clearly and conspicuously
identify the article of merchandise or type of service to which it
relates. Disclosure of the relationship between the price and
particular article of merchandise or type of service by means of an
asterisk or other symbol, and corresponding footnote, does not meet
the requirement of clear and conspicuous identification when the
particular article of merchandise or type of service is not
represented pictorially.



17508.  (a) It shall be unlawful for any person doing business in
California and advertising to consumers in California to make any
false or misleading advertising claim, including claims that (1)
purport to be based on factual, objective, or clinical evidence, (2)
compare the product's effectiveness or safety to that of other brands
or products, or (3) purport to be based on any fact.
   (b) Upon written request of the Director of Consumer Affairs, the
Attorney General, any city attorney, or any district attorney, any
person doing business in California and in whose behalf advertising
claims are made to consumers in California, including claims that (1)
purport to be based on factual, objective, or clinical evidence, (2)
compare the product's effectiveness or safety to that of other
brands or products, or (3) purport to be based on any fact, shall
provide to the department or official making the request evidence of
the facts on which the advertising claims are based. The request
shall be made within one year of the last day on which the
advertising claims were made.
   Any city attorney or district attorney who makes a request
pursuant to this subdivision shall give prior notice of the request
to the Attorney General.
   (c) The Director of Consumer Affairs, Attorney General, any city
attorney, or any district attorney may, upon failure of an advertiser
to respond by adequately substantiating the claim within a
reasonable time, or if the Director of Consumer Affairs, Attorney
General, city attorney, or district attorney shall have reason to
believe that the advertising claim is false or misleading, do either
or both of the following:
   (1) Seek an immediate termination or modification of the claim by
the person in accordance with Section 17535.
   (2) Disseminate information, taking due care to protect legitimate
trade secrets, concerning the veracity of the claims or why the
claims are misleading to the consumers of this state.
   (d) The relief provided for in subdivision (c) is in addition to
any other relief that may be sought for a violation of this chapter.
Section 17534 shall not apply to violations of this section.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to hold any
newspaper publisher or radio or television broadcaster liable for
publishing or broadcasting any advertising claims referred to in
subdivision (a), unless the publisher or broadcaster is the person
making the claims.
   (f) The plaintiff shall have the burden of proof in establishing
any violation of this section.
   (g) If an advertisement is in violation of subdivision (a) and
Section 17500, the court shall not impose a separate civil penalty
pursuant to Section 17536 for the violation of subdivision (a) and
the violation of Section 17500 but shall impose a civil penalty for
the violation of either subdivision (a) or Section 17500.



17509.  (a) Any advertisement, including any advertisement over the
Internet, soliciting the purchase or lease of a product or service,
or any combination thereof, that requires, as a condition of sale,
the purchase or lease of a different product or service, or any
combination thereof, shall conspicuously disclose in the
advertisement the price of all those products or services. This
requirement shall not in any way affect the provisions of Sections
16726 and 16727, with respect to unlawful buying arrangements.
   (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any of the following:
   (1) Contractual plans or arrangements complying with this
paragraph under which the seller periodically provides the consumer
with a form or announcement card which the consumer may use to
instruct the seller not to ship the offered merchandise. Any
instructions not to ship merchandise included on the form or card
shall be printed in type as large as all other instructions and terms
stated on the form or card. The form or card shall specify a date by
which it shall be mailed by the consumer (the "mailing date") or
received by the seller (the "return date") to prevent shipment of the
offered merchandise. The seller shall mail the form or card either
at least 25 days prior to the return date or at least 20 days prior
to the mailing date, or provide a mailing date of at least 10 days
after receipt by the consumer, except that whichever system the
seller chooses for mailing the form or card, shall be calculated to
afford the consumer at least 10 days in which to mail his or her form
or card. The form or card shall be preaddressed to the seller so
that it may serve as a postal reply card or, alternatively, the form
or card shall be accompanied by a return envelope addressed to
seller. Upon the membership contract or application form or on the
same page and immediately adjacent to the contract or form, and in
clear and conspicuous language, there shall be disclosed the material
terms of the plan or arrangement including all of the following:
   (A) That aspect of the plan under which the subscriber shall
notify the seller, in the manner provided for by the seller, if the
seller does not wish to purchase or receive the selection.
   (B) Any obligation assumed by the subscriber to purchase a minimum
quantity of merchandise.
   (C) The right of a contract-complete subscriber to cancel his or
her membership at any time.
   (D) Whether billing charges will include an amount for postage and
handling.
   (2) Other contractual plans or arrangements not covered under
subdivision (a), such as continuity plans, subscription arrangements,
standing order arrangements, supplements, and series arrangements
under which the seller periodically ships merchandise to a consumer
who has consented in advance to receive that merchandise on a
periodic basis.
   (c) This section shall not apply to the publisher of any
newspaper, periodical, or other publication, or any radio or
television broadcaster, or the owner or operator of any cable,
satellite, or other medium of communication who broadcasts or
publishes, including over the Internet, an advertisement or offer in
good faith, without knowledge of its violation of subdivision (a).