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.
Westwood (nicknamed "The Hub of the Pascack Valley") is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 10,999. Westwood was officially incorporated as a borough on May 8, 1894, from portions of Washington Township, early during the Boroughitis phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County. Isaac D. Bogert served as the first mayor of the Borough. In April 1909, the area of Westwood was enlarged through the annexation of the 'Old Hook' section of the borough of Emerson, and on September 24, 1957, portions of the borough were exchanged with Emerson.