Consumer Bill of Rights: 12 rights you can cite

It is a list of rights inside the law that created the Department of Consumer Affairs. It is not a separate law or a program: it is Article 7A of Act 5-1973, added in 2021, and its usefulness is that it puts in citable writing things that previously had to be argued. The article itself says so at the outset: consumers in Puerto Rico shall enjoy all rights recognized to them in applicable laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the following. That is, the list adds to what already exists and does not replace it.

Consumers in Puerto Rico. The article sets no age, income or residency requirements, and there is nothing to register for. What it does have is a limit on its reach, and it is important to read before invoking the article: its provisions shall not apply to contracts regulated by a special law, or whose primary jurisdiction over contracting terms and conditions falls under any administrative agency, as established in its organic law, other than the Department of Consumer Affairs. In practice: if another agency regulates your contract under its own organic law, this article is not your tool and you need the one belonging to the right forum.

• Being a consumer in Puerto Rico. There is no registration, application or prior requirement to invoke these twelve rights.Verified against the official source
• That your contract not be regulated by a special law or under the primary jurisdiction of an administrative agency other than DACO: the article excludes itself in those cases.Verified against the official source
• To request potable water or electric power without a property title: having some proprietary interest or evidence of legal authorization to occupy the property.Verified against the official source

• The copy of the contract before signing — printed or digital — and the faithful and exact copy once signed. The article entitles you to both.
• The detailed copy of the warranty applicable to the good or service purchased, printed or digital, with coverage, duration, the name and address of whoever answers for it, and the claim procedure.
• For water or power without a property title: the evidence of your proprietary interest or of the legal authorization to occupy the property.

1. 1

   Step 1: Before signing: the copy, the time and the blank spaces

   The right to information is the one most used at the counter. The text says the consumer has the right to know the content and scope of any contract they are required to sign, and shall have the right to request a copy, printed or digital, before signing it, with the time they deem necessary to read it or get advice. Note who decides how much time is needed: the consumer, not the seller. After signing you are entitled to be given a printed or digital copy, faithful and exact. And the two prohibitions follow, written without nuance: they cannot be required to sign a contract that is incomplete, lacks the proper heading, or has blank spaces. That empty line to be "filled in later" is not a trade custom: it is exactly what this item prohibits.

2. 2

   Step 2: The Cooling-Off Rule: whoever contracts with you has to tell you

   The same item ends with an obligation on the business side: the contractor must include in the contract, and state orally, the Federal Trade Commission’s Cooling-Off Rule. Those are two duties, not one: in writing inside the contract and also said aloud. If nobody mentioned it to you, that silence is itself a breach of this item, regardless of what the rule says. What we do not publish: the content of that federal rule — how many days it gives, which sales it covers and how it is exercised — because Act 5-1973 orders it disclosed but does not reproduce it, and the rule is a federal source we did not read for this guide. Ask the business for the text the law requires it to include.

3. 3

   Step 3: What they must tell you about the product, the warranty and the price

   Two consecutive rights cover this. Compensation: you have the right to receive complete information on the factors that may affect your purchase choice, highlighting quality, price, expiration date, recall date, use, contents, operation, storage, maintenance or preservation, care and replacement of the product purchased and its parts. The same item adds the warranty: you have the right to be informed and to be given a copy, printed or digital, detailing every aspect of any applicable warranty, including coverage and duration, the name and address of the person responsible for honoring it, and the procedure to follow and conditions to meet for claims. Education covers the money: you have the right to be informed in detail of all costs involved in any acquisition of goods and services, including total price, number of installments, installment amount, insurance charges and any other cost you must pay. "Total price" and "any other cost" are written that way in the law, and they are the two phrases that work when a charge nobody mentioned shows up.

4. 4

   Step 4: Water and power without a property title

   The right to public services starts general — receiving excellent public services, with provider information and guidance on security deposits, advance payment for service, late payment surcharges, cutoff and restoration of service, setting up payment plans and resolving disputes — and ends with something very concrete: this right includes the right to access potable water and electric power services without a property title over the occupied land where the consumer resides being a requirement, without this being understood to mean that providing the service amounts to recognizing ownership of the property. The law sets one condition and writes it expressly: the person requesting the public service must have some proprietary interest or evidence of legal authorization to occupy the property. It is not "anyone asks and gets service"; it is "they cannot demand the title from you if you have a proprietary interest or legal authorization to occupy". And the last right, non-discrimination, repeats the point in case of doubt: it includes not being discriminated against when requesting potable water and electric power services on the occupied land where you reside, provided the applicant has some proprietary interest or evidence of legal authorization to occupy the property.

5. 5

   Step 5: Not being discriminated against, and the grounds the law names

   The twelfth right says the consumer has the right not to be denied a product or service they wish to contract or buy, and that they cannot be discriminated against or treated badly on grounds of race, religion, gender, economic situation, nationality, sexual orientation, a physical disability or any other similar ground. That last phrase — "or any other similar ground" — leaves the list open rather than closed at the enumerated grounds. The text speaks both of denying the product or service and of treating badly, which are two distinct behaviors.

6. 6

   Step 6: The rest of the list

   The remaining ones are written in more general terms, but are citable all the same. Free choice: freely and efficiently selecting all the goods and services you want, of optimal quality, sustainably, without affecting the availability and quality of goods and services for future generations from an economic, social and environmental standpoint. Safety and physical integrity: being protected from products that in any foreseeable use turn out dangerous, or that may cause harm, injury or illness, to you or your family. Lodgings: the consumer has the right, as a tenant, to have the selected lodging provide safety and wellbeing, thereby complying with legal provisions. Representation and free expression: being represented as a consumer in government forums — municipal, state and federal — and before the legislative and judicial branches, and also being heard before non-governmental forums, such as private organizations or associations and companies selling goods or services. Association: organizing consumer groups and working with the mechanisms needed to develop their self-defense. Truthful, non-coercive promotion: receiving correct, clear and precise information regarding contests and promotions published through the media. And protection in electronic media: being guaranteed the protections other traditional forms of commerce offer, including the protection of personal information and the guarantees of a fair, appropriate and quality service, as agreed. Also the first paragraph of the right to information, which covers what precedes the contract: being protected from illegal practices and misleading advertising by businesses.

7. 7

   Step 7: Read the final clause before invoking the article

   Article 7A closes with a limitation that decides whether it helps you: this Article’s provisions shall not apply to contracts regulated by a special law, or whose primary jurisdiction over contracting terms and conditions falls under any administrative agency, as established in its organic law, other than the Department of Consumer Affairs. Read it backwards and it is clearer: this bill of rights works for general commerce falling under DACO. When the contract belongs to a sector with its own agency and its own organic law, the forum and the rules are different. We do not list which sectors those are: that depends on each agency’s organic law, which we did not read for this guide, and writing it down unverified would be exactly the kind of mistake this clause punishes with a misfiled complaint.

These twelve rights live in the Department of Consumer Affairs’ organic law, and DACO is the natural forum for trade practices under its jurisdiction. Article 7A itself, however, creates no complaint procedure and sets no deadlines: it is a declaration of rights within the organic law, not a procedural chapter. What it does do is give you the exact text you can cite — by right number — to the business and in a complaint. Before filing, check the article’s final clause: if the contract is regulated by a special law or its primary jurisdiction sits with another administrative agency under that agency’s organic law, DACO is not the forum and this article does not apply.

• Signing a contract with blank spaces "to be filled in later": right 2 expressly prohibits it.
• Accepting no copy until after signing: you have the right to request it beforehand, printed or digital.
• Letting the seller decide how much time you have to read: the law says the time the consumer deems necessary to read it or get advice.
• Not requesting in writing the FTC Cooling-Off Rule, which the contractor must include in the contract and also state orally.
• Ending up without the detailed warranty copy with coverage, duration, responsible party and claim procedure.
• Accepting a demand for a property title for water or power when you have a proprietary interest or legal authorization to occupy.
• Filing at DACO a contract regulated by a special law or another agency: the article’s final clause excludes it.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Asuntos del Consumidor (DACO)

  DACO

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO)

  DACO

  www.daco.pr.gov