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.
Sunset Beach is an unincorporated beachfront community northwest of Huntington Beach in Orange County, California. Southeast of Sunset Beach is Bolsa Chica State Beach. To the east is the bayfront community of Huntington Harbour (part of Huntington Beach), and roughly north is the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, and the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge. The small gated community of Surfside located between Sunset Beach and the Weapons Station is part of Seal Beach, with the rest of Seal Beach on the other side of the Weapons Station. The Sunset Beach city limit signs indicate a population of 1,288 in 2007. Sunset Beach does not have residential mail delivery. Instead, residents pick up their mail at post office boxes in the centrally-located post office. Sunset Beach is served by the Sunset Beach Sanitary District. Orange County officials recently informed Sunset Beach it must become part of Huntington Beach; however, some residents are resisting this effort. The ZIP Code is 90742, and the community is inside area code 562.