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CHAPTER 12
GEORGIA
A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action
Georgia has two different consumer protection related statutes: the
Fair Business Practices Act and the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices
Act. Each is discussed in turn below.
1. The Fair Business Practices Act
Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act (FBPA)1 seeks “to protect
consumers and legitimate business ent erprises fro m unfair or deceptive
practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce in part or wholly in the
state.”2 In order to accomplish this goal, the FBPA proscribes “[u]nfair or
deceptive act s or practices in the conduct of consumer transactions and
consumer acts or practices in trade or commerce.”3 The FBPA defines a
number of terms relevant to this general proscription.4 Most notably, the
FBPA defines “consumer transactions” as “the sale, purchase, lease o r
rental of goods, services, or property, real or personal, primarily for
personal, family, or household purposes,”5 and ‘“consumer acts or
practices” as “acts or practices intended to encourage consumer
transactions.”6
The Georgia Legislature intended the FBPA to be construed
“consistently with interpretations given by the Federal Trade Commission
in the federal courts pursuant to section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade
Commission Act.”7 But, in addition to the broad prohibition on “[u]nfair
and deceptive acts or practices,”8 the FBPA describes thirty-four different
1. GA. CODE ANN. §§ 10-1-390 to 10-1-407.
2004), aff’d, 608 S.E.2d 248 (Ga. 2004).
3. GA. CODE ANN. § 10-1-393(a); see Zahler v. Nat’l Collegiate Student Loan
Trust 2006-1, 844 S.E.2d 530, 534 (Ga. Ct. App. 2020).
4. GA. CODE ANN. § 10-1-392.
5. Id. § 10-1-392(a)(10).
6. Id. § 10-1-392(a)(7).
7. Id. § 10-1-391(b).
8. Id. § 10-1-393(a).
