Opinion ID: 1149719
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: claim under consumer protection act

Text: [3] A trial court is only compelled to submit instructions to a jury on a theory of the case where there is substantial evidence to support the claim. Langan v. Valicopters, Inc., 88 Wn.2d 855, 866, 567 P.2d 218 (1977); Hester v. Watson, 74 Wn.2d 924, 448 P.2d 320 (1968). Under the Consumer Protection Act, four essential elements are necessary to support a private cause of action: (1) the act or practice must be unfair or deceptive, (2) it must occur in trade or commerce, (3) there must be a resultant injury, and (4) the acts complained of must affect the public interest such that the Attorney General would have authority to bring an action. RCW 19.86.020, 19.86.090; Salois v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 90 Wn.2d 355, 581 P.2d 1349 (1978); Comment, Private Suits Under Washington's Consumer Protection Act: The Public Interest Requirement, 54 Wash. L. Rev. 795, 796 (1979). Mrs. Simmons asserts that there were seven different acts of the respondent which were unfair or deceptive and which caused her injury. We do not find substantial evidence in the record to support any of these claims. (1) The record shows that Mr. Cooper represented that the mobile home would fit in the lot, not that the lot owner would have no objection. There is no evidence that his statements were deceptive. (2) Cooper's mere refusal to allow rescission of the contract, without more, is not unfair. (3) Although it appears from the testimony that Mrs. Simmons simply did not know which day the mobile home would be moved, there is no evidence that the alleged moving without her knowledge or consent was unfair or caused her any injury. (4) Mr. and Mrs. Simmons each testified that they thought that the delivered mobile home was not the same one that they had seen on the lot. But the serial number on the executed contract matched that on the home, and the Simmons did not show that the minor differences that they claimed to have found caused them any injury. (5) The Simmons claimed that there were defects in the delivered home. But since Cooper's offered to repair them, this is not unfair. (6) The Simmons claimed that Cooper's failure to notify them when it resold the home was unfair. But Cooper's had notified them that it intended to resell the home. That is all that is required by RCW 62A.2-706(3). (7) Because Mrs. Simmons had the power to sell the trade-in mobile home, Cooper's refusal to relinquish its claim to that home was not unfair. Because there was not substantial evidence to support each of the four elements required under the Consumer Protection Act for any of the seven allegations, the trial court properly declined to instruct the jury on this theory. Judgment affirmed. ROSELLINI, STAFFORD, WRIGHT, HICKS, and WILLIAMS, JJ., concur. HOROWITZ, J. (dissenting) I agree with the majority's conclusion that the Consumer Protection Act is inapplicable to the facts in this case and in the majority's conclusion that, for purposes of RCW 26.16.030(3), a mobile home is not real property requiring joinder of both spouses to transfer community property ownership interest. I must dissent, however, from the majority's interpretation of RCW 26.16.030(5) and its conclusion that the Simmons' mobile home is not a household good requiring joinder of both spouses to transfer community property ownership interest. As discussed below, classification of the mobile home as a household good within the provisions of RCW 26.16.030(5) fulfills the intent of the legislature in enacting this statute. Moreover, the fact that the title certificate named only Mrs. Simmons as the registered owner does not prevent proof of the community character of the property. For these reasons I dissent.