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.
Randallstown is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is named after Christopher and Thomas Randall, two 18th-century tavern-keepers. At that time, Randallstown was a tollgate crossroads on the Liberty Turnpike, a major east-west thoroughfare. Today it is a suburb of Baltimore, with a population of 30,870 (2000 census). In the 1990s, Randallstown transitioned to a majority African American community, and is currently notable for its broad ethnic diversity. Its median household income ($58,686)is the highest in the near-northwest suburbs, and the fifth highest in Baltimore County, ahead of such other affluent communities as Towson, Owings Mills, Pikesville, Catonsville, and Perry Hall.