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.
Spring Valley is an unincorporated community in San Diego County, California. The community includes the neighborhood of La Presa and part of the neighborhood of Casa de Oro (which extends into unincorporated La Mesa). The United States Census Bureau has divided Spring Valley into two census-designated places (CDPs), Spring Valley and La Presa. The population of Spring Valley was 59,384 at the 2000 census. This figure combines the population of the Spring Valley CDP (26,633) and the La Presa CDP (32,721). There are claims that the Greater Spring Valley area has over 100,000 residents although this claims large areas that are actually unincorporated parts of La Mesa and El Cajon. Spring Valley is served by the 91977 and 91978 ZIP codes.