Does cleaning a card matter?

[Archive]

Posted By: warshawlaw

Consumer protection laws are not written for "enforcement" by the government, they are written to give private individuals who've been screwed on smaller transactions some real recourse. There are a number of these laws that cover "ordinary" situations we've all been in where we've all said "I wish that it was worth my while to go after them". Some other examples: we have a law that mandates that tow companies accept credit cards. If they refuse, they are liable for a fine plus attorneys' fees. If you've ever had to find an ATM at 1:00 in the morning in some rathole part of town because you got towed, you know how galling it is. We also have a law that requires tradesmen to keep appointments within a four-hour window or they are liable for a $500 fine plus attorneys' fees. Ever sat around the house all day waiting for the phone guy or cable guy to show up? If they do it to you here, you can make them pay for wasting your time. In the case of the card alteration law, the penalty provision of the law are as follows:

§ 21671. Alterations or refurbishments; certificates; violations; penalties
(a) Any sports trading card that is altered or refurbished shall be accompanied by a certificate stating the exact work done to the sports trading card, the date the work was performed, the cost of that work, and the name, phone number, and address of the person who performed the work.
(b) Any person or agent thereof, who knowingly sells or trades a sports card in violation of subdivision (a), shall both:
(1) Refund to the buyer, the full amount paid for the altered or refurbished sports trading card or the full retail value of any nonmonetary consideration received in exchange for the altered or refurbished sports trading card, or both.
(2) Be liable to the buyer for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation. Each card sold represents a separate and distinct violation.

There is another catch-all law that provides for attorneys' fees to you if you win in a consumer protection case.

How does it work? Let's say you buy a card for a few hundred dollars, and let's say that the alterations to the card were outed on this Board, and let's say that the seller admitted he'd altered the card. Absent this law, you'd be looking at filing a case for a few hundred dollars in restitution, you'd probably not bother, and you'd be stuck. With this law, it is worthwhile to pursue the case, even to seek legal help in doing it.

Personally, I prefer living in a state where people can be made to pay in a meaningful way for cheating me and wasting my time. I'm about to file a towing case--my car got towed, illegally, from an unmarked parking lot in Hollywood and I had to chase around the a-hole of LA in the middle of the night looking for an ATM because the tow company refused credit cards. I am gonna make the parking lot operator and the tow company bleed for it.