Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2513 – Unlawful practice
(a) The act, use, or employment by any person of any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, unfair practice, or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression, or omission, in connection with the sale, lease, receipt, or advertisement of any merchandise, whether or not any person has in fact been misled, deceived, or damaged thereby, is an unlawful practice. It shall also be an unlawful practice to misrepresent the geographic location of a business or supplier which raises or sells flowers and/or ornamental plants by any of the following:
(1) Listing a local telephone number in a local telephone directory if:
a. Calls to the telephone number are routinely forwarded or otherwise transferred to a business location that is outside the calling area covered by the local telephone directory other than to counties contiguous to this State; and
b. The listing fails to identify the locality and state of the supplier’s business; or
(2) Listing a fictitious business name or an assumed business name in a local telephone directory if:
a. The name misrepresents the supplier’s geographic location; and
b. The listing fails to identify the locality and state of the supplier’s business.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2513
- Advertisement: means the attempt by publication, dissemination, solicitation or circulation to induce, directly or indirectly, any person to enter into any obligation or acquire any title or interest in, any merchandise. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Knowledge: means a person's actual knowledge of a fact, rather than the person's constructive knowledge of the fact. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
- Local telephone directory: means a telephone classified advertising directory or the business section of a telephone directory that is distributed free of charge to some or all telephone subscribers in a local area. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
- Local telephone number: means a telephone number that has the 3-number prefix(es) used by the telephone service company(ies) for telephones physically located within the area covered by the local telephone directory in which the number is listed. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
- Merchandise: means any objects, wares, goods, commodities, intangibles, real estate or services. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
- Person: means an individual, corporation, government, or governmental subdivision or agency, statutory trust, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, unincorporated association, 2 or more of any of the foregoing having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
- Sale: means any sale, offer for sale or attempt to sell any merchandise for any consideration. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
- State: means the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any state, territory, possession, or other jurisdiction of the United States other than the State of Delaware. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
- Unfair practice: means any act or practice that causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers which is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves and not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2511
(b) This section shall not apply:
(1) To the owner or publisher of newspapers, magazines, publications or printed matter wherein such advertisement appears, or to the owner or operator of a radio or television station which disseminates such advertisement when the owner, publisher or operator has no knowledge of the intent, design or purpose of the advertiser; or
(2) To any advertisement or merchandising practice which is subject to and complies with the rules and regulations, of and the statutes administered by, the Federal Trade Commission; or
(3) To matters subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission, or of the Insurance Commissioner of this State, except for matters covered by § 1014 of Title 26, but only as they relate to community-owned energy generating facilities.
6 Del. C. 1953, § ?2513; 55 Del. Laws, c. 46; 69 Del. Laws, c. 203, § ?23; 71 Del. Laws, c. 420, § ?1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 470, §§ ?12, 13; 83 Del. Laws, c. 85, § 2; 83 Del. Laws, c. 178, § 5;