BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Office of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division is celebrating its work on behalf of Idaho citizens last year.
In all, the division recovered more than $7.1 million dollars for consumers who were the victims of unfair business practices, amounting to $7.25 for each tax dollar appropriated in 2021.
In the 2021 Consumer Protection Report released Wednesday, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden outlined some of the division's wins, including taking action against a man peddling false health cures, a tax preparer who incorrectly filed his clients' taxes, causing them to receive hefty bills from the IRS, and an ATV rental company that customers say charged them for unnecessary repairs.
"The Consumer Protection Division is a key part of my office, both for the role it plays in directly protecting Idaho consumers, and for its role representing the state in consumer-related litigation," Wasden said. "This report illustrates the breadth of this important work."
In addition, the Consumer Protection Division joined a third antitrust complaint against Google, and won settlements against opioid companies that resulted in $120 million for Idaho.
The report says that the division dealt with a total of 1,165 consumer complaints in 2021, down slightly from the year prior.
The top complaint categories were motor vehicles (144 complaints) followed by construction and contractors (89 complaints,) landlords and tenant issues (61 complaints,) household appliances (56 complaints,) and banking services and healthcare ( a tie of 35 complaints each.)
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