Blue Beach Bungalows DE, LLC v. the Delaware Department of Justice Consumer Protection Unit

Summary

The Court held that the Consumer Fraud Act does not apply to communications occurring after the formation of the underlying transaction, based on the statute’s plain language and the transactional meaning of its enumerated terms. It also held that the Act does not violate Delaware’s constitutional jury-trial guarantee because the statutory cause of action is not sufficiently analogous to common-law fraud. The Court reversed the Superior Court’s contrary scope ruling, affirmed its constitutional ruling, and remanded for additional factual findings; the cross-appeal issues were treated as moot or subject to reevaluation on remand.