BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 17500-17509

17500.

It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association, or any employee thereof with intent directly or indirectly to dispose of real or personal property or to perform services, professional or otherwise, or anything of any nature whatsoever or to induce the public to enter into any obligation relating thereto, to make or disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated before the public in this state, or to make or disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated from this state before the public in any state, in any newspaper or other publication, or any advertising device, or by public outcry or proclamation, or in any other manner or means whatever, including over the Internet, any statement, concerning that real or personal property or those services, professional or otherwise, or concerning any circumstance or matter of fact connected with the proposed performance or disposition thereof, which is untrue or misleading, and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading, or for any person, firm, or corporation to so make or disseminate or cause to be so made or disseminated any such statement as part of a plan or scheme with the intent not to sell that personal property or those services, professional or otherwise, so advertised at the price stated therein, or as so advertised. Any violation of the provisions of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

17500.1.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no trade or professional association, or state agency, state board, or state commission within the Department of Consumer Affairs shall enact any rule, regulation, or code of professional ethics which shall restrict or prohibit advertising by any commercial or professional person, firm, partnership or corporation which does not violate the provisions of Section 17500 of the Business and Professions Code, or which is not prohibited by other provisions of law.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to any rules or regulations heretofore or hereafter formulated pursuant to Section 6076.

17500.3.

1. It is unlawful for any person to solicit a sale or order for sale of goods or services at the residence of a prospective buyer, in person or by means of telephone, without clearly, affirmatively and expressly revealing at the time the person initially contacts the prospective buyer, and before making any other statement, except a greeting, or asking the prospective buyer any other questions, that the purpose of the contact is to effect a sale, by doing all of the following:
   1. Stating the identity of the person making the solicitation.
   2. Stating the trade name of the person represented by the person making the solicitation.
   3. Stating the kind of goods or services being offered for sale.
   4. And, in the case of an "in person" contact, the person making the solicitation shall, in addition to meeting the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), show or display identification which states the information required by paragraphs (1) and (2) as well as the address of the place of business of one of such persons so identified.
2. It is unlawful for any person, in soliciting a sale or order for the sale of goods or services at the residence of a prospective buyer, in person or by telephone, to use any plan, scheme, or ruse which misrepresents his true status or mission for the purpose of making such sale or order for the sale of goods or services.
3. In addition to any other penalties or remedies applicable to violations of this section, the intentional violation of this section shall entitle persons bound to a contract, when there was a sales approach or presentation or both in which such intentional violation of this section took place, to damages of two times the amount of the sale price or up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250), whichever is greater, but in no case shall such damages be less than fifty dollars ($50); provided, however, that as a condition precedent to instituting such action hereunder against the person represented by the person making the solicitation, the aggrieved party shall, in writing, demand that the person represented by the solicitor terminate such contract and return any and all payments made thereunder, and that the person represented by the solicitor shall have refused within a reasonable time, such termination and return. If the person represented by the person making the solicitation elects to terminate, he shall return to the aggrieved party payments received for any and all goods, and for services not rendered, and upon return of such payments, the aggrieved party shall return any and all goods received under the contract. For the purposes of this section, a reasonable time shall mean 20 business days from the date of demand. This subdivision shall not apply to a cause of action commenced under any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, a cause of action commenced pursuant to Section 382 of the Code of Civil Procedure or Section 1781 of the Civil Code.
   Any rights under this subdivision shall be waived if subsequent to the signing of the contract the party bound by the contract states that identification, as required by this section, was given.
4. Persons represented by the person making the solicitation shall keep and maintain copies of all demands for termination for violation of this section for a period of one year from date of receipt. Failure to maintain such records shall create a presumption affecting the burden of proof that demand for termination had been properly made.
5. Where any provision of law provides a penalty for the violation of any offense specified in this section, it shall be a defense to the imposition of such penalty as to any defendant who did not commit the act or acts constituting the offense that such defendant did not know, and with the exercise of reasonable care could not have known, that the act was committed, which constitutes the violation of this section.
6. As used in this section "person" includes any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, but does not include any nonprofit charitable organization, or any person selling any intangibles, or any items defined in Section 1590 (a)(1), of Title 18 of the California Administrative Code as it read on July 15, 1972.
7. This section shall not prohibit nor authorize the enactment by the governing body of any city, county, or city and county, of ordinances relating to home solicitations which are more restrictive of such solicitation than the provisions of this section.

17500.5.

1. It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association to falsely represent by advertisement the quantity of any article so advertised that will be sold to any one customer on his demand in a single transaction, and willfully or negligently to fail to include in such advertisement a statement that any restriction that is in fact put upon the quantity of any article so advertised that is sold or offered for sale to any one customer on his demand in a single transaction.
2. Any person, firm, corporation, or association who, by means of such false or negligent advertisement or publicity, induces any individual retail purchaser and consumer to enter any place of business designated therein seeking to buy any article so advertised or publicized, and then refuses to sell to such person the article at the price advertised in any quantity then available for sale on said premises, shall be liable to each person so induced and refused, for the losses and expenses thereby incurred, and the sum of fifty dollars ($50) in addition thereto.
3. Nothing in this section shall affect any right a seller may have to refuse to extend credit to a customer, and this section shall not be applicable to a customer purchasing for resale.
4. The provisions of subdivision (b) are applicable only to actions brought in the name of, and on behalf of, a single plaintiff and shall not be applicable in multiple plaintiff or class actions.