In re Fleet v. United States Consumer Council
Bankruptcy, E.D. Pa.
95 B.R. 319 (1999)
USCC (defendant), through targeted marketing to unemployed, disabled, and financially distressed individuals including Fleet (plaintiff), promised financial services it ultimately could not and did not provide, then charged customers $195 to $260 to refer them to an attorney, a service ordinarily available for free through bar association referral programs; Fleet sued alleging USCC's practices were unconscionable under the New Jersey Unfair & Deceptive Practice Act.
Whether a determination that a commercial entity's practices are unconscionable is made by examining factors including the price charged for a good or service, the gross excessiveness of the price charged relative to the seller's costs, and the value of the good or service sold relative to the price paid by the consumer.