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.
Forest Ranch is an unincorporated community in Butte County, California. It includes Forest Ranch Elementary School (K-6), its own post office, and a CDF fire station. The community's ZIP code is 95942, and is shared with the community of Butte Meadows. The area code is 530. The US Geological Survey reports the town's elevation as 2,415 feet (736 m) above mean sea level. The eastern end of the community is about 3,500 feet (1,067 m): about 1,000 feet (305 m) higher. This is high enough that residents occasionally get "snowed in. " Residents east of the center of the community report the snowfall is heavy enough to prevent driving about one to three days each year. This is only true of homes not located along State Route 32. Some residents commute to work in Chico, about fifteen driving miles west on SR32.