Title 12A — Consumer Code
8 chapters · 181 sections in this title.
12A V.I.C. § 101 Unfair trade practices prohibited
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No person shall engage in any deceptive or unconscionable trade practice in the sale, lease, rental or loan or in the offering for sale, lease, rental, or loan of any consumer goods or services, or in the collection of consumer debts.
12A V.I.C. § 102 Definitions
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(a) “Deceptive trade practice” means any false, falsely disparaging, or misleading oral or written statement, visual description or other representation of any kind made in connection with the sale, lease, rental, or loan of consumer goods or services, or in the extension of cons…
12A V.I.C. § 103 Regulations
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(a) The Director may adopt such rules and regulations, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 35 of Title 3 of this Code, as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, including regulations defining specific deceptive or unconscionable trade practices. (b) Such r…
12A V.I.C. § 104 Enforcement
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(a) Upon previous notice and an opportunity for a fair hearing, the Commissioner may impose administrative fines of not more than $5,000.00 for a violation of the provisions of this chapter, or of any valid regulation or order issued pursuant to this chapter. The Commissioner may…
12A V.I.C. § 105 Settlements
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(a) In lieu of instituting or continuing an action pursuant to this chapter, the Director may accept written assurance of discontinuance of any act or practice in violation of this chapter from the person or persons who have engaged in such acts or practices. Such assurance shall…
12A V.I.C. § 106 Class actions
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(a) The Director may, in addition to other remedies provided in this chapter, bring a class action on behalf of consumers where appropriate for the actual damages caused by an act or practice declared by law or rule as violating this chapter. (b) On motion of the Director and wit…
12A V.I.C. § 107 Coordination with other agencies
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(a) If the Director receives a complaint or other information relating to noncompliance with this chapter by a merchant who is subject to other supervision or regulation by another department or agency of the Government, the Director shall inform the official or agency having tha…
12A V.I.C. § 108 Private remedies
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(a) Whether he seeks or is entitled to damages or has an adequate remedy at law, a consumer may bring an action to:(1) obtain a declaratory judgment that an act or practice violates this chapter; or(2) enjoin in accordance with the principles of equity, a merchant who has violate…
12A V.I.C. § 109 Class action requirements
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(a) An action may be maintained as a class action under this chapter only if:(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;(2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class;(3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical o…
12A V.I.C. § 110 Permitted practices
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The provisions of this chapter shall be construed so as to supplement the rules, regulations, and decisions of the Federal Trade Commission and judicial interpretation of 15 U.S.C. sec. 45(a)(1), of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
12A V.I.C. § 120 Definitions
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(1) For the purposes of this subchapter:(1) “Advertisement” means any public offer of merchandise with the purpose of attracting the attention of the consumer, whether through the press, handbills or other publications, radio, television, or any other informative media.(2) “Merch…
12A V.I.C. § 121 Prohibited practices
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(1) The following specific acts or practices in the advertisement of merchandise to the consumer are prohibited:(1) The publication or distribution of advertisements in which merchandise is offered at a special price, making reference also to a regular price for the same merchand…
12A V.I.C. § 122 Enforcement
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The Consumer Services Administration shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this subchapter.
12A V.I.C. § 123 Posting of retail drug prices
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(a) Each drug retailer shall prominently post a list of the prices of the one hundred prescription drug products that had the highest volume of retail sales by such drug retailer during the previous year. The posting for each such drug shall list the drug product under its establ…
12A V.I.C. § 130 Definitions
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(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Person” means a sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, or any other form of business organization.(2) “Franchise” means a contract or agreement, either expressed or implied, whether oral or written, between two or more persons, excluding cr…
12A V.I.C. § 131 Notice of termination of franchise
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It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any franchisor engaged in commerce, directly or through any officer, agent, or employee to terminate, cancel, or fail to renew a franchise for any reason whatsoever without having first given written notice of such termination, cance…
12A V.I.C. § 132 Good cause for termination of franchise
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(1) Notwithstanding the terms, provisions, or conditions of any franchise, except as provided in section 133, it shall be a violation of this subchapter for any franchisor directly or through any officer, agent, or employee to terminate, cancel, or fail to renew a franchise excep…
12A V.I.C. § 133 Arbitration
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The provisions of section 132 of this subchapter shall not apply to any written franchise containing provisions for the binding arbitration of disputes concerning the terms covered in section 132 in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association or other simila…
12A V.I.C. § 134 Unfair methods of competition
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It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any franchisor, directly or through any officer, agent, or employee to engage directly or indirectly in methods of competition with any franchisee that constitute unfair methods of competition within the meaning of the Federal Trade …
12A V.I.C. § 135 Recovery of damages
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Any franchisee may bring an action against a franchisor for violation of this subchapter in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, and shall recover the damages by him sustained by reason of the franchisor's failure to comply with this subchapter, together with the costs of th…
12A V.I.C. § 136 Limitations of actions
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Any action brought pursuant to this subchapter shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action shall have accrued.
12A V.I.C. § 137 Antimonopoly laws applicable
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No provision of this subchapter shall repeal, modify, or supersede, directly or indirectly, any provision of the antimonopoly laws of the United States Virgin Islands. This subchapter is and shall be deemed supplementary to, but not a part of, the antimonopoly laws of the United …
12A V.I.C. § 138 Other laws not invalidated
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This subchapter shall not invalidate any provision of the laws of the United States Virgin Islands except insofar as there is a direct conflict between an expressed provision of this subchapter and an express provision of the laws of the United States Virgin Islands which cannot …
12A V.I.C. § 139 Enforcement
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The Consumers Services Administration shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this subchapter.
12A V.I.C. § 150 Definitions
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(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Weights and measures” means weights and measures of any kind, instruments and devices for weighing and measuring, and any appliances and accessories associated with any or all such instruments and devices, except that the term shall not be cons…
12A V.I.C. § 151 Systems and definitions recognized
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The system of weights and measures in customary use in the United States and the metric system of weights and measures are jointly recognized and one or the other of these systems shall be used for all commercial purposes in the United States Virgin Islands. The definitions of ba…
12A V.I.C. § 152 Standards; location, removal, certification
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Weights and measures in conformity with the standards of the United States as have been supplied to the Government of the United States Virgin Islands by the federal government or otherwise obtained by the Director for use as territorial standards, when the same have been certifi…
12A V.I.C. § 153 Office standards, field standards, verification
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In addition to the territorial standards provided for in the preceding section of the subchapter, there shall be at least one complete set of copies of these standards to be kept in the office or laboratory of the Consumer Services Administration to be known as office standards, …
12A V.I.C. § 154 Director of weights and measures; deputies, inspectors
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The Director of the Consumer Services Administration by virtue of his office shall be the Director of Weights and Measures during his term of office. Subject to the provisions of chapter 25 of Title 3 of this Code, the Director shall appoint a deputy director of weights and measu…
12A V.I.C. § 155 Standards, custody, enforcement, supervision and reports
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The Director shall have the custody of the territorial standards of weights and measures and of the other standards and equipment provided for by this subchapter, and shall keep accurate records of the same. The director shall enforce the provisions of this subchapter. He shall h…
12A V.I.C. § 155a Determination of price and quantities of petroleum, food and general supplies
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(a) The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs may determine the prices and quantities at which all petroleum derivatives, including gasoline, any article of food, and general supplies may be sold by wholesalers, retailers, producers, or manufacturers. These measures includ…
12A V.I.C. § 156 Rules and regulations
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(a) The Director may issue from time to time reasonable rules and regulations necessary to administer and for the enforcement of this subchapter, which regulations shall have the force and effect of law after filing and publication in accordance with the provisions of chapter 35 …
12A V.I.C. § 157 [Reserved.]
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12A V.I.C. § 157 Statutes current through Act 9046 of the 2025 session of the 36th Legislature, including all code changes through October 25, 2025 Virgin Islands Code AnnotatedCopyright © 2026 All rights reserved.
12A V.I.C. § 158 Inspection and testing
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(1) The Director may inspect, and test to ascertain if they are correct, all weights and measures kept, offered or exposed for sale. He shall inspect, and test to ascertain if they are correct, all weights and measures commercially used in:(1) determining the weight, measurement …
12A V.I.C. § 159 Investigation of complaints
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The Director shall investigate complaints made to him concerning violations of the provisions of this subchapter, and shall, upon his own initiative, conduct such investigations as he deems advisable to develop information on prevailing procedures in commercial quantity determina…
12A V.I.C. § 160 Inspections
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The Director, as often as he deems advisable, shall weigh, measure or inspect packages or amounts of commodities offered or exposed for sale, sold, or in the process of delivery, to determine whether they contain the amounts represented and whether they be offered or exposed for …
12A V.I.C. § 161 Stop-use orders
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The Director may issue stop-use orders, stop-removal orders with respect to weights and measures being or susceptible of being commercially used. He may issue stop-removal orders or removal orders with respect to packages or amounts of commodities kept, offered or exposed for sal…
12A V.I.C. § 162 Approval of weights and measures
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The Director shall approve for use and seal or mark with appropriate devices such weights and measures as he finds upon inspection or test to be “correct” as defined in section 156 of this title. He shall reject or condemn in seal or mark as “rejected” or “condemned” such weights…
12A V.I.C. § 163 Administrative fines, enforcement, seizure
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(a) Upon previous notice and an opportunity for a fair hearing, the Director may impose administrative fines of not less than $25 or more than $100 for each violation of the provisions of this subchapter or regulations issued pursuant to this subchapter. To accomplish the purpose…
12A V.I.C. § 164 Rejected or condemned weights and measures
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Weights and measures that have been rejected or condemned and ordered corrected or disposed of under the authority of the Director shall remain subject to his control until such time as suitable repair or disposition thereof has been made pursuant to this section. The owners of s…
12A V.I.C. § 165 Liquid and nonliquid measurement
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(1) Commodities in liquid form shall be sold only by liquid measure or by weight, and commodities not in liquid form shall be sold only by weight, measure, or by count, and shall be sold and marked in terms of the largest unit. However, liquid commodities may be sold by weight an…
12A V.I.C. § 165a Scale for customers' use
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When commodities are packaged on the premises of a store, shop, or other establishment selling foodstuffs and when such commodities are offered for sale by weight, a scale or other weighing device that shows the weight shall be placed within plain view and conveniently near the d…
12A V.I.C. § 166 Packaged commodities
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(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, any commodity in package form kept for the purpose of sale or offered or exposed for sale, shall bear on the outside of the package such definite, plain, legible and conspicuous declarations of:(1) the identity of the commodity…
12A V.I.C. § 167 Random weights
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In addition to the declarations required by the preceding section of this subchapter, any commodity in package form, which package is one of a lot containing random weights, measures or counts of the same commodity and bears the total selling price of the package, shall bear on t…
12A V.I.C. § 168 Misleading wrappers
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Any commodity in package form shall not be so wrapped, nor shall it be in a container so made, formed or filled as to mislead the purchaser as to the quantity of the contents of the package.
12A V.I.C. § 169 Advertisements
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Whenever a commodity in package form is advertised in any manner and the retail price of the package is stated in the advertisement, there shall be closely and conspicuously associated with such statement of price a declaration of the basic quantity of contents of the package as …
12A V.I.C. § 170 Meat, poultry and seafood
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Except for immediate consumption on the premises where sold, or as one of several elements comprising a ready-to-eat meal sold as a unit for consumption elsewhere that on the premises where sold, all meat, meat-products, poultry, whole or parts, and all seafood except shellfish, …
12A V.I.C. § 171 Misrepresentations; display of price
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(a) Whenever any commodity or service is sold, or is offered, exposed or advertised for sale, by weight, measure or count, the price shall not be misrepresented, nor shall the price be represented in any manner calculated or tending to mislead or deceive an actual or prospective …
12A V.I.C. § 171a Meters required on trucks transporting and dispensing liquids
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All tank trucks used in the transportation and sale of water, petroleum products or any other liquids to United States Virgin Islands' consumers shall be equipped with meters to accurately measure the number of gallons or other appropriate liquid measure being dispensed to the co…
12A V.I.C. § 172 Instruction of enforcement officers
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Any person who shall hinder or obstruct in any way the Director, deputy directors or any inspector in the performance of his official duties shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.