Recent cases may suggest a shift in courts’ views on New Jersey’s Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA). Plaintiffs have used the TCCWNA to attack an increasingly broad array of agreements, particularly online terms and conditions, and have often built their cases on mere technical violations unaccompanied by any real harm.
As discussed in a previous Alert, the past few years have seen a surge in these consumer class action lawsuits under the TCCWNA, as e-commerce sites – and their requisite online terms of use – have proliferated. Courts appear to be recognizing that plaintiffs have expanded this consumer protection law well beyond its drafters’ intentions, and some have begun reining in claims under the statute.