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.
Lebanon is a Borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 1,065, which has jumped to 1,830, as of the Census Bureau's 2006 population estimate.. Lebanon was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 26, 1926, from portions of Clinton Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 20, 1926. Additional portions of Clinton Township were annexed in 1962. Lebanon is located north of the Round Valley Reservoir. The Borough was known in the early part of the 19th century as Jacksonville and later as Lebanonville, Lebanonville Depot and finally Lebanon, a station on the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The center of Lebanon has changed little in the past century. The Dutch Reformed Church is one of the oldest churches in the County. Records of the church begin in 1769, however, the church is cited as early as 1747.