AG Racine Urges Council to Support Legislation to Address Opioid Crisis and Public Safety

WASHINGTON, D. C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine and Chief Deputy Attorney General Natalie O. Ludaway today testified during two Council committee hearings in favor of multiple bills designed to improve public safety in the District. The Office of Attorney General (OAG) introduced two bills to crack down on dangerous synthetic drugs and protect children from sexual predators. Another bill introduced by councilmembers aims to address and prevent early childhood trauma before it manifests into criminal behavior.

District of Columbia Consumer Protection Laws

The District of Columbia’s general consumer protection law, which prohibits a wide variety of deceptive and unconscionable business practices, is called the Consumer Protection Procedures Act or “CPPA.”  It is codified at DC Official Code §§ 28-3901 to 28-3913.

Attorney General Sues Online Housekeeping Company for Misleading Consumers on Background Checks, Recurring Charges

WASHINGTON, DC – The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court against New York-based Handy Technologies, Inc. (Handy) for misleading consumers about the safety of its online housekeeping service and about how it bills customers. Handy is a “sharing economy” company through which consumers can hire persons to clean their home using Handy’s website and smartphone application.

The Attorney General’s suit alleges that Handy:

Attorney General Racine Announces $100 Million Multistate Settlement with Barclays for Manipulating Interest Rate

WASHINGTON, D. C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today announced a $100 million multistate settlement with Barclays Bank PLC and Barclays Capital Inc. for fraudulent and anticompetitive conduct during the 2007-2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. The conduct involved Barclays manipulating a benchmark interest rate known as LIBOR, negatively affecting government entities -- including the D.C. Retirement Board -- and nonprofit groups nationwide to the tune of millions of dollars.

Public Hearing: Providence Hospital Sale

The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia is reviewing the sale of the Providence Hospital site (1150 Varnum Street NE) to a for-profit entity and held a public hearing on September 6, 2023 at the University of the District of Columbia Community College Lamond-Riggs Campus to receive stakeholder and resident input.

Attorney General Schwalb Announces $10.25 Million Settlement With AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Cricket & Tracfone Over Deceptive Advertising Practices

WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a $10.25 million 50-jurisdiction settlement with the nation’s largest wireless carriers, AT&T Mobility, LLC (AT&T), Cellco Partnership (doing business as Verizon Wireless), Cricket Wireless, LLC (Cricket), T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile), and TracFone Wireless, Inc. (TracFone).

AG Racine Leads Bipartisan Coalition of 21 States In Urging Congress To Pass Cannabis Banking Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today led a bipartisan coalition of 21 Attorneys General urging Congress to pass the “Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act” (H.R. 2093; S. 1028) or similar measures that would allow legal cannabis-related businesses to access the banking system. Current federal banking laws, which reflect the federal status of marijuana as an illegal drug, force legitimate cannabis companies nationwide to operate mainly in cash.