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.
Verbank is a hamlet in the town of Union Vale in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Verbank is served by a post office with the ZIP code of 12585; the ZCTA for ZIP Code 12585 had a population of 956 at the 2000 census. Verbank is home to Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake, which was established in 1976 as a camp for children grades 2–8, focused on the Jewish heritage. The Verbank Hunting And Fishing Club, on Verbank Club Road, was created in 1928. The Verbank United Methodist Church is located at the junction of County Route 9 and New York State Route 82. The Dutchess and Columbia Railroad was chartered in 1866 to build a line from Fishkill on the Hudson River northeast and north to the New York and Harlem Railroad at Craryville. On the railroad, a railroad station, the church, a post office, and two stores existed in the area that was known as Verbank Station. In its early years, Verbank was home to two gristmills and a paper mill.