Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
New Hope is a city in Madison County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population is 2,539. Originally named Cloud's Town in 1829 by its founder William Cloud, it was incorporated in 1832 under the name of Vienna. Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Reed of the 12th Indiana Calvary seized the town on May 29, 1864 during the American Civil War. Vienna was burned by the Union Army on December 15, 1864. All that remained were the post office and Masonic Lodge. Since there was already a post office called Vienna in southern Alabama, the rebuilt city was incorporated in 1883 as New Hope, taking its name from the New Hope Methodist Church.