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CHAPTER 50
WEST VIRGINIA
A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action
The West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (CCPA) is
comprised of twenty-one Articles that govern consumer transactions.1
Article 6, entitled “General Consumer Protection,”2 broadly protects
consumers by prohibiting “[u]nfair methods of competition and unfair or
deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce . . . .”3
Under the statute, the terms “trade” or “commerce” mean “the advertising,
offering for sale, sale, or the distribution of any goods or services and shall
include any trade or commerce, directly or indirectly affecting the people
of the state of West Virginia.”4
Article 6 provides a non-exhaustive list of sixteen enumerated acts or
practices that constitute “unfair methods of competition and unfair or
deceptive acts or practices.”5 Other Articles of the CCPA address specific
types of conduct, including consumer credit protection and debt
collection,6 consumer information data breaches,7 consumer finance
charges,8 consumer lending,9 motor vehicle warranties and aftermarket
parts,10 telemarketing,11 and unsolicited email or fax transmissions.12 Man y
of these other Articles provide that a violation of those provisions also
constitutes an unfair or deceptive practice prohibited by Article 6.13
1. W. VA. CODE §§ 46A-1-101 to 46A-8-102.
2. Id. §§ 46A-6-101 to 46A-6-110.
3. Id. § 46A-6-104.
4. Id. § 46A-6-102(6); see Wamsley v. LifeNet Transplant Servs., 2011 WL
5520245, at *7 (S.D. W. Va. 2011) (stating “the provisioning of blood and
human tissue by the non-profit Defendants to Plaintiff’s health care
providers is not ‘trade or commerce’”).
5. W. VA. CODE §4§ 46A-6-102(7).
6. Id. §§ 46A-2-101 to 46A-2-139; 46A-6C-2 to 46A-6C-12; 46A-6L-101 to
46A-26L-105.
7. Id. §§ 46A-2A-101 to 46A-2A-105.
8. Id. §§ 46A-3-101 to 46A-3-117.
9. Id. §§ 46A-4-101 to 46A-4-113; 46A-6K-1 to 46A-6K-5.
10. Id. §§ 46A-6A-1 to 46A-6B-6.
11. Id. §§ 46A-6F-101 to 46A-F-703.
12. Id. §§ 46A-6G-1 to 46A-6G-5; 46A-2-139.
13. See, e.g., id. §§ 46A-2A-104(a); 46A-6B-6; 46A-6C-7(d); 46A-6D-9;
46A-6F-402(b); 46A-6H-6(b); 46A-6J-5(a).
