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CHAPTER 37
OHIO
A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action
The Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (OCSPA),1 which is to be
liberally construed,2 generally prohibits suppliers, in connection with a
consumer transaction, from committing unfair, deceptive, or
unconscionable acts or practices. Thus, to prove a violation of the OCSP A,
a plaintiff must show that (1) the defendant is a “supplier” (2) who engaged
in a “consumer transaction” and (3) committed an unfair, deceptive, or
unconscionable act or practice in connection with the transaction.
Under the OCSPA, the term “supplier” means “a seller, lessor,
assignor, franchisor, or other person engaged in the business of effecting
or soliciting consumer transactions, whether or not the person deals
directly with the consumer.”3 The phrase “engaged in the business of” has
“generally been held to connote continuous or regular activity, rather than
a single or isolated sale, particularly where the sale falls outside the scope
of ‘the seller’s usual course of business.’”4
The term “‘[c]onsumer transaction’ means a sale, lease, assignment,
award by chance, or other transfer of an item of goods, a service, a
franchise, or an intangible, to an individual for purposes that are primarily
personal, family, or household, or solicitation to supply any of these
things.”5 Based on this statutory definition, transactions for business
1. OHIO REV. CODE. ANN. §§ 1345.01–1345.99.
In addition, in construing this provision, Ohio’s courts “sh all give due
consideration and great weight to federal trade commission orders, trade
regulation rules and guides, and the federal courts’ interpretations of
subsection 45(a)(1)” of the Federal Trade Commission Act. OHIO REV.
CODE. ANN. § 1345 .02(C).
3. OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 1345.01(C). The OCSPA defines “person” as “an
individual, corporation, government, governmental subdivision or agency,
business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, cooperative, or other
legal entity.” Id . § 1345.01(B).
1991) (holding that an automobile repair shop that sold three cars per year
was not a “supplier” for purposes of the OCSPA with respect to a claim
arising from the sale of a car).
5. OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 1345.01(A).
