{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-28-3909","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 28-3909","heading":"Restraining prohibited acts.","body":"(a)\nNotwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if the Attorney General for the District of Columbia has reason to believe that any person has used, is using, or intends to use any method, act, or practice in violation of [§§] 28-3803, 28-3805, 28-3807, 28-3810, 28-3811, 28-3812, 28-3814, 28-3817, 28-3818, 28-3819, 28-3851, 28-3852, 28-3852.01, 28-3852.02, or 28-3904, and if it is in the public interest, the Attorney General, in the name of the District of Columbia, may bring an action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to obtain a temporary or permanent injunction:\n(1)\nProhibiting the use of the method, act, or practice;\n(2)\nRequiring the violator to take affirmative action, including the restitution of money or property;\n(3)\nFreezing, where appropriate, the alleged violator's assets to ensure adequate funds are available to pay restitution, damages, and penalties;\n(4)\nPlacing an entity in receivership; or\n(5)\nDissolving an entity.\n\n(a-1)\nIn any action under this section, the Attorney General shall not be required to prove damages and the injunction shall be issued without bond.\n\n(b)\nIn addition, in an action under this section, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia shall recover:\n(1)\nFrom a merchant who engaged in a first violation of section 28-3803, 28-3805, 28-3807, 28-3810, 28-3811, 28-3812, 28-3814, 28-3817, 28-3818, 28-3819, 28-3851, 28-3852, [28-3852.01], [28-3852.02], or 28-3904, a civil penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $5,000 for each violation;\n(2)\nFrom a merchant who engaged in a first violation of section 28-3803, 28-3805, 28-3807, 28-3810, 28-3811, 28-3812, 28-3814, 28-3817, 28-3818, 28-3819, 28-3851, 28-3852, [28-3852.01], [28-3852.02], or 28-3904 and who subsequently repeats the same violation, a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 for each subsequent violation;\n(3)\nEconomic damages; and\n(4)\nThe costs of the action and reasonable attorneys' fees.\n\n(b-1)\n(1)\nAny request by the Attorney General for costs and fees shall be presumptively reasonable where the defendants in the action did not expend substantially less in costs and fees than the amount in the Attorney General's request. Where the defendants in the action expended substantially less in costs and fees than the amount in the Attorney General's request, the Attorney General may still prove the reasonableness of the request under the same standards applicable to a private plaintiff.\n(2)\nThe Attorney General may also seek reasonable costs and fees expended in a pre-suit investigation where the subject matter of the investigation was pertinent to the subsequent suit brought under this section.\n\n(c)\nThe Attorney General for the District of Columbia may also:\n(1)\nrepresent the interests of consumers before administrative and regulatory agencies and legislative bodies;\n(2)\nassist, advise, and cooperate with private, local, and federal agencies and officials to protect and promote the interests of consumers;\n(3)\nassist, develop, and conduct programs of consumer education and information through public hearings, meetings, publications, or other materials prepared for distribution to consumers;\n(4)\nundertake activities to encourage local business and industry to maintain high standards of honesty, fair business practices, and public responsibility in the production, promotion, and sale of consumer goods and services , in the extension of consumer credit, and in the solicitation of charitable donations;\n(5)\nperform other functions and duties which are consistent with the purposes or provisions of this chapter, and with the Attorney General's role as parens patriae, which may be necessary or appropriate to protect and promote the welfare of consumers;\n(6)\nnegotiate and enter into agreements for compliance by merchants with the provisions of this chapter; or\n(7)\npublicize its own actions taken in the interests of consumers.\n\n(d)\nThe Attorney General for the District of Columbia may apply the provisions and exercise the duties of this section to landlord-tenant relations.\n\n(e)\nIn any action brought under this section or in an investigation by the Attorney General under § 28-3910, any confidentiality agreement or protective order agreed to by the Attorney General or otherwise entered into or enforced by a court shall permit the Attorney General to share documents designated as confidential with any law enforcement agency; provided, that the law enforcement agency agrees to abide by the confidentiality restrictions in the confidentiality agreement or protective order.","path":["Title 28. Commercial Instruments and Transactions. [Enacted title]","Chapter 39. Consumer Protection Procedures."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28-3909","current_through":"2026-10-22 (D.C. Law 26-190)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-10-26T05:48:18Z","sha256":"16ab579faeaa0d3e5c4181a200e5f3b3d86309982c31d6a30133ebfc61fcaa4a","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-28-3908","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-28-3910"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}