Layers of rules that apply at once
Federal law, enforced largely by the FTC, prohibits unfair and deceptive practices across most industries, and specific federal rules address areas like telemarketing, online reviews, and certain fees. States add their own statutes and enforcement. In New York, the FAIR Business Practices Act took effect in 2026 and lets the Attorney General address unfair and abusive practices in addition to deceptive ones, while private lawsuits continue to focus mainly on deception. New York City has its own consumer protection law and agency. Industry-specific regulators, such as banking, insurance, and health authorities, add another layer on top of the general rules.
Where reviews usually find problems
Problems tend to concentrate in a few places: how prices and fees are disclosed, how automatic renewals and cancellations work, what advertising claims say and whether they can be backed up, and how endorsements and reviews are presented. A useful review gathers the actual customer-facing materials, not just the policy documents behind them. That includes screenshots of the checkout flow, renewal emails, cancellation steps, and scripts used by sales or support staff. Testing and substantiation files for any performance or health claims should be kept with the marketing that relies on them. Several of these rules have been revised or challenged recently, so the current status needs to be checked rather than assumed.
How a compliance review is scoped
We start by understanding where you sell, to whom, and through which channels, because the applicable rules depend on those facts. We then look at the highest-risk practices first rather than reviewing everything at the same depth. Where rules are being litigated or phased in, we flag the uncertainty instead of offering false precision. The output is usually a prioritized list of changes and a sense of which ones need to happen before launch. We also discuss how to keep records of the review, since documented good-faith compliance efforts can matter if a regulator later asks questions.
