The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Colorado (General Assembly; enforced by the Attorney General and district attorneys) · Colorado
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Colo. Const. art. V; Colorado Consumer Protection Act, C.R.S. 6-1-101 et seq.
- Issued
- 2020-07-14 July 14, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-07-14 (safety clause; applies to actions brought on or after the effective date) (read as 2020-07-14)
- End
- Permanent statute; its prohibition runs for the 'disaster period' (180 days following the declaration of a disaster emergency and any extension) (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- July 14, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Other
- Addressees
- any person selling or offering for sale building materials, consumer food items, emergency supplies, fuel, medical supplies, repair or reconstruction services, transportation, freight or storage services, or other listed goods and services within the designated disaster area
- Functions reached
- SF pricing of building-material, food, fuel, medical-supply and emergency-supply sellers
- JS and RP repair and reconstruction service pricing
- DR and WH transportation, freight, storage and towing service pricing
- SC supplier cost documentation
- CB
- Collection
- State utilities, housing and agriculture agencies AGY-ST-UTILITIES-HOUSING-AG
Operative words
6-1-730. Price gouging during declared disaster prohibited - deceptive trade practice - legislative declaration - definitions.... (2) A person engages in an unfair and unconscionable act or practice when, during a disaster period and within the designated area, the person charges a price so excessive as to amount to price gouging in: (a) the sale or offer for sale of: (I) building materials;... [consumer food items; emergency supplies; fuel; medical supplies; and other necessities]; or (b) [repair or reconstruction services; transportation, freight, or storage services]... (m)(I) 'Transportation, freight, or storage services' means a service that is performed by a person that: (A) contracts to move, transport, or store property; or (B) rents equipment for the purpose of moving, transporting, or storing property. (II) 'Transportation, freight, or storage services' includes towing services. SECTION 2. Applicability. This act applies to actions brought on or after the effective date of this act. SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.
Enforcement
Colorado Consumer Protection Act remedies, C.R.S. 6-1-110 to -113 (Attorney General and district attorney actions; civil penalties up to $20,000 per violation); the seller's defense is that the increase is 'directly attributable to additional costs imposed on the seller by the seller's supplier or suppliers or other direct costs' of the disaster
Notes
Enacted during the COVID-19 disaster emergency, which the Governor had declared March 11, 2020 (CO-001) and extended monthly through July 8, 2021 (CO State file), so the 'disaster period' ran throughout the enactment's first year. Sponsors' list and summary read on the General Assembly's bill page.
Retrieval noteSigned act; the Governor's signature block is partly illegible in the text layer; the signing date (July 14, 2020) is from the General Assembly's bill page, read.