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.
Hernandez is an unincorporated community in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. Hernandez is about 5 miles northwest of Espanola on U.S. Routes 84/285. Hernandez has the ZIP code 87537. Covering 55 square miles, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for ZIP code 87537 had a population of 2,492 at the 2000 census. The racial makeup of the city was 65.8% White, 0.3% African American, 1.6% Native American, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 30.4% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 91.1% of the population. Hernandez is "a populated place located wholly or substantially outside the boundaries of any incorporated place or CDP with an authoritative common name recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey. " Hernandez is best known as the subject of a 1941 Ansel Adams photograph, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico". A 1948 print of this photograph realized $609,600 at a Sotheby's New York auction in 2006. The previous record for a "Moonrise" print, set in 2002, was $136,000. Georgia O'Keeffe painted another church in Hernandez in 1931: "Another Church, Hernandez, New Mexico"