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.
The City of White Plains is the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about 4 miles (6 km) east of the Hudson River and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northwest of Long Island Sound. It is bordered to the north by the town of North Castle, to the north and east by the town/village of Harrison, to the south by the town/village of Scarsdale and to the west by the town of Greenburgh. As of the 2000 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 53,077, while a 2006 census estimate put the city's population at 57,081. White Plains is one of the edge cities that have developed outside of New York City. According to the city government, the daytime weekday population is estimated at 250,000.