Vermont § 2458 - Restraining prohibited acts

§ 2458. Restraining prohibited acts

• (a) Whenever the Attorney General or a State’s Attorney has reason to believe that any
  person is using or is about to use any method, act, or practice declared by section 2453 of this title to be unlawful, or has reason to believe that any person has violated any assurance
  of discontinuance entered into pursuant to section 2459 of this title, and that proceedings would be in the public interest, the Attorney General, or a
  State’s Attorney if authorized to proceed by the Attorney General, may bring an action
  in the name of the State against such person to restrain by temporary or permanent
  injunction the use of such method, act, or practice or to dissolve a domestic corporation
  or revoke the certificate of authority granted a foreign corporation. The action
  may be brought in the Superior Court of the county in which such person resides, has
  a place of business, or is doing business. The courts are authorized to issue temporary
  or permanent injunctions to restrain and prevent violations of this chapter, such
  injunctions to be issued without bonds, and so to dissolve, or revoke the certificate
  of authority of, a corporation. (b) In addition to the foregoing, the Attorney General or a State’s Attorney may request
  and the court is authorized to render any other temporary or permanent relief, or
  both, as may be in the public interest, including: (1) the imposition of a civil penalty of not more than $10,000.00 for each unfair or deceptive
  act or practice in commerce and of not more than $100,000.00 for an individual or
  $1,000,000.00 for any other person for each unfair method of competition in commerce; (2) an order for restitution of cash or goods on behalf of a consumer or a class of consumers
  similarly situated; (3) an order requiring reimbursement to the State of Vermont for the reasonable value
  of its services and its expenses in investigating and prosecuting the action; (4) amounts other than consumer restitution recovered by the Attorney General or Department
  of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs under this chapter, but not to exceed amounts annually
  appropriated, or authorized pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 511, shall be deposited into special funds that shall be available to the Attorney General
  or Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, respectively, to offset the costs
  of providing legal services. (c) Whenever a State’s Attorney brings an action pursuant to this section, a copy of any
  pleadings shall be served on the Attorney General pursuant to Rule 5 of the Vermont
  Rules of Civil Procedure. Failure to comply with this provision shall not affect
  the validity of the proceedings commenced under this section. (Added 1967, No. 132, § 1, eff. April 17, 1967; amended 1969, No. 45, § 4, eff. April 4, 1969; 1971, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1973, No. 110, § 2; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1999, No. 49, § 213; 2009, No. 67 (Adj. Sess.), § 88, eff. Feb. 25, 2010; 2015, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § D.1; 2019, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § E.200.2, eff. Oct. 2, 2020.)