Opinion ID: 2071303
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Consumer Fraud Lawsuit

Text: In late 2002, the Attorney General, on behalf of the State of Iowa, filed a lawsuit against the Club alleging it had engaged in unfair practices in violation of the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. See Iowa Code § 714.16(2)( a ) (2001). The State sought injunctive relief, reimbursement, and a civil penalty, as well as investigative and attorneys' fees. See id. § 714.16(7), (11). The Club filed a motion for summary judgment. The Club argued the Consumer Fraud Act did not apply to this case, and, in any event, it had not engaged in an unfair practice. The district court granted the Club's motion for summary judgment. [4] The court reasoned the case was at its heart a dispute between dues-paying members and nonpaying members of a nonprofit corporation. The court ruled the Act did not apply absent a buyer-seller relationship between the consumer and the defendant. Even if the statute did apply, the court further held there was no unfair practice because there was no evidence of unavoidable injury. The court found it was undisputed that an owner's interest could be sold, willed or given away at any time, and therefore the consumer could avoid the obligation to pay dues in the future. The State appealed. The court of appeals affirmed, albeit for a different reason. The court held the Act did not apply because no sale is implicated in the matters complained of here; the State, it reasoned, was only complaining about later conduct that is unrelated to the sale. The State sought further review, which we granted.