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.
West Haverstraw is a village in the Town of Haverstraw Rockland County, New York, United States located northwest of the Village of Haverstraw; east of Thiells; south of the Hamlet of Stony Point and west of the Hudson River. The population was 10,295 at the 2000 census. The majority of the hamlet "Garnerville" is contained in the village of West Haverstraw.