Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, media reports have highlighted coronavirus-related price gouging on items ranging from necessary medical supplies (such as respirators) to basic household essentials (such as toilet paper). Public scrutiny of, and political interest in, coronavirus-related price gouging has led to rapid shifts in pricing compliance enforcement and regulations. Prior to this public health crisis, only 33 states, plus Washington DC, had anti-price gouging statutes. Now, all but four states have enacted anti-price gouging legislation, temporarily banned price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic, and/or announced their intention to enforce anti-price gouging measures under existing consumer protection statutes.
Further, on March 23, 2020, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order prohibiting hoarding and price gouging of critical medical supplies.1 The EO authorizes the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute price gouging of medical resources. Pursuant to that authorization, the Department of Justice created a task force charged with addressing hoarding and price gouging associated with COVID-19.2 In conjunction with the task force, some US Attorney offices have announced enforcement efforts within their districts to tackle hoarding and price gouging.3
Because anti-price gouging regulations vary from state to state, and because the statutory landscape is changing almost daily, it can be challenging for consumer-facing businesses to ensure that they are in statutory compliance in all jurisdictions in which they operate. To assist, we have created the below quick reference guide concerning the current state of anti-price gouging measures in the United States.
This guide provides a state-by-state overview of (1) the relevant price gouging statute or other regulation, (2) the event that triggers anti-price gouging measures, (3) the measure of price gouging in the state and (4) the penalties an individual or entity might face for violating the state's anti-price gouging measures.
It should be noted that additional factors may influence whether a business is in compliance in a particular jurisdiction. For example, most states allow for price increases directly related to additional costs imposed by the emergency. In many states, a wholesale price increase of 20% may be passed along by the retailer with an additional 20% markup on its retail prices. Further, many statutes consider supply chain price increases to include the increased costs of housing and services, not just merchandise at retail. For the sake of brevity, these statutes are not summarized in detail. Finally, this summary focuses on statutes specific to price gouging; however, as noted above, many states and local jurisdictions may invoke (and in some cases, have already invoked) consumer protection or other generalized laws to address price gouging.
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Footnotes
2. https://www.justice.gov/file/1262776/download
3. E.g., https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/us-attorney-bryan-schroder-announces-efforts-prosecute-hoarding-and-price-gouging; https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/pr/us-attorney-urges-publicreport-suspected-covid-19-fraud-or-price-gouging
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