Durrett Law Firm Legal Blog | Houston Texas Legal Blog

DTPA Lawsuit Settled For $4,850,000

On November 24, 2009, The Houston Chronicle reported that Conn's has agreed to pay $4,500,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the Texas Attorney General's Office after receiving 3,500 complaints about the electronics retailer. The settlement money will go toward a restitution fund on behalf of defrauded customers. In addition, Conn's has agreed to pay $250,000 in attorney's fees and $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center - Center for Consumer Law.
Despite the settlement, Conn's continues to deny liability even going as far as to say that the "... suit was without merit...". The Attorney General filed suit in May, 2009. Among other things, the Chronicle reports that it is alleged that Conn's failed to honor warranties, deceptively exchanged refurbished products as new, did not repair items promptly, and refused to give refunds or replace defective products.

One of the legal theories for the lawsuit was for violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Act provides statutory remedies for various misrepresentations and breach of warranties. In addition to actual damages, the DTPA allows consumers to recover their attorney's fees for violations of the DTPA. If "knowing" conduct is involved the trier of fact may award up to three times actual damages as well as damages for mental anguish.

From the article it appears Conn's remains recalcitrant. Seriously, if Conn's makes a practice of settling meritless claims for nearly $5,000,000, it will soon go broke.