Consumer Complaints

Scope

This file explains, in plain language for people who are not lawyers, what a New Jersey consumer can do when there is a problem with a product or service: how to start by working directly with the business, how to file a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, how to sue the business in the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court (the small-claims path), and how the federal government's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fits in for scams and fraud. It does not cover the Lemon Law in detail, debt collection, class actions, or the criminal prosecution of fraud.

Legal Explanation

A consumer problem has several possible paths (NJ-specific, with one federal option). A New Jersey consumer who has a problem with a product or service — a defective item, faulty workmanship, an unpaid refund, an unauthorized charge — can choose among resolving it informally, filing a complaint with the state's consumer protection agency, suing in a New Jersey court, and, for scams, reporting to a federal agency [S1][S3][S4][S6]. The NJ-specific paths are the Division of Consumer Affairs and the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court; the federal path is the FTC, which is a separate agency of the United States government [S2][S4][S6].

Start by working directly with the business (practical guidance, not a legal requirement). Before involving an agency or a court, try asking the business to fix the problem, refund the money, or replace the item — and keep the receipts, the contract, and any messages. The kinds of problems people end up in court over include a product that doesn't work, work that was faulty or not completed, a bad check, and a security deposit that was not returned — the examples listed on the NJ Judiciary's small-claims and Special Civil self-help pages [S3][S4].

Filing a complaint with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs (NJ-specific). The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs is the state consumer protection agency; its website places it within the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety and links to the Office of the Attorney General [S1]. A consumer can file a complaint against any business (using the general consumer complaint form), against a licensed professional or to report unlicensed activity, against a brokerage firm, stockbroker, sales agent, or investment advisor, and for a defect with a new car, used car, or motorized wheelchair (the Lemon Law route) [S1]. Complaints can be filed online or by email, and the forms are available in multiple languages [S1]. Information you supply may be subject to public disclosure under New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, and the Division strongly urges consumers not to submit sensitive personal information on the forms [S1]. The Division's Consumer Service Center can be reached at (973) 504-6200, or toll-free within New Jersey at (800) 242-5846 [S1].

What the Division can do (NJ-specific). The Division's Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) describes itself as the "primary investigative section for consumer complaints," with the main responsibility of enforcing the Consumer Fraud Act and its regulations — New Jersey's main consumer-protection statute [S2]. The Division also has an Alternative Dispute Resolution unit that, in its own words, resolves disputes "without having to go through the traditional court system" [S2]. For licensed professionals, complaints can lead to investigations, and a board "can suspend or revoke someone's license to practice if they committed misconduct" [S1]. The Division's role, as its own pages describe it, is investigation and enforcement [S1][S2]; whether the Division can obtain a refund or other money for an individual consumer is not stated on the official pages checked within this topic's research budget, so that expectation should not be assumed.

Suing the business: the Special Civil Part (NJ-specific). For a money dispute the business will not resolve, a consumer can sue in the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court — the part of the state court system that handles smaller money cases [S4][S5]. The NJ Judiciary's own navigation divides lawsuits by amount: "Lawsuits $5,000 or less (Small Claims)," "Lawsuits $20,000 or less (Special Civil)," and "Lawsuits over $20,000 (Civil)" [S5]. The Special Civil Part has three sections: Special Civil, Landlord Tenant, and Small Claims [S4]. These dollar tiers, and every fee below, were read from the official njcourts.gov pages on 2026-08-20 and can change [S3][S4][S5].

Small claims: $5,000 or less (NJ-specific). Small claims are lawsuits for $5,000 or less, and renters may also file for return of a security deposit of $5,000 or less [S3]. Examples of small claims include breach of a written or oral contract, damage to or loss of property, a product that doesn't work, faulty or unfinished work you paid for, a bad check, and a down payment you want returned [S3]. Cases that cannot be filed as small claims include malpractice claims against doctors, dentists, lawyers, or other professionals; child support or alimony claims; wills and inheritance matters; and claims seeking anything other than money [S3]. Small claims are "simpler than other case types," and the Judiciary says most people are able to file and present their cases without an attorney [S3]. The filing fee is $35 for one defendant, plus $5 for each additional defendant, with additional service fees (currently $10 per defendant served by certified and regular mail, $10 for a court officer to personally serve the complaint, and $12 for each additional defendant served by a court officer) [S3]. Fees are paid by check or money order payable to the "Treasurer, State of New Jersey" [S3]. The court does not charge a filing fee for litigants who can prove that their income is no more than 150% of the current poverty level and that they have no more than $2,500 in cash and bank accounts [S3].

Special Civil: more than $5,000 and up to $20,000 (NJ-specific). The Special Civil section is for claims of more than $5,000 and up to $20,000 [S4][S5]. Claims typically filed there include breach of a written or oral contract, return of a down payment, property damage caused by a motor vehicle accident, damage to or loss of property, "consumer complaints for defective merchandise or faulty workmanship," payment for work performed, bad checks, and return of a tenant's security deposit [S4]. Claims that cannot be filed there include professional malpractice, support or alimony from a marital or domestic dispute, and probate matters [S4]. If you believe you are entitled to more than $20,000, the case belongs in the Law Division of the Superior Court — and if you sue in Special Civil anyway, you give up the right to recover the amount over $20,000 and cannot claim it later in a separate lawsuit [S4]. Filing fees are $50 where the amount claimed is $5,000 or less and $75 where it is more than $5,000, plus $5 for each additional defendant and service fees, and an additional $100 fee is required for a jury trial by six jurors [S4]. The fee to file an answer is $30 [S4]. A complaint must be filed in the Office of the Special Civil Part in the county where at least one defendant lives or where the defendant's business is located; if no defendant lives or is located in New Jersey, the complaint is filed in the county where the problem occurred [S4]. A person must be 18 or older to file (a parent or guardian files for a minor), and a corporate or partnership defendant must be represented by an attorney when the claim is greater than $5,000 [S4]. The Judiciary says it is a good idea to get a lawyer if you can; if you cannot afford one, the court's materials point to the legal services program in your county, note that Legal Services of New Jersey maintains a directory of regional legal services offices, and add that the NJ State Bar Association maintains county referral lists [S4].

Federal options: the FTC (federal, not New Jersey). The FTC is the United States federal agency that "enforce[s] federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices" [S6]. The FTC directs consumers to report fraud, scams, and bad business practices through its consumer complaint portal, ReportFraud.ftc.gov, which is linked from the FTC's own homepage [S6][S7]. This is a federal route: the FTC enforces federal law, and a report to the FTC is separate from — and does not replace — a complaint to the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs or a lawsuit in a New Jersey court [S6][S2]. Whether the FTC itself obtains refunds for individual consumers is not stated on the pages checked within this topic's research budget, so that expectation should not be assumed [S6][S7].

Why jurisdiction matters. Each of these paths is different: the Division of Consumer Affairs is a New Jersey state agency enforcing New Jersey law (the Consumer Fraud Act) [S2]; the Special Civil Part is a New Jersey state court [S4][S5]; and the FTC is a federal agency enforcing federal law [S6]. A consumer who wants money back from a specific business in New Jersey will typically look to the NJ paths, while a report to the FTC is a federal option aimed at fraud and scams [S2][S4][S6].

ELI-10: Explain It Like I'm 10

[HYPOTHETICAL — NOT A REAL CASE] Imagine you buy a remote-control car at the toy shop. On day two it stops working. You take it back, and the shop says, "No refunds, no repairs — that's our rule." What can you do? First, you ask again nicely and show your receipt — maybe the shop changes its mind. If it won't, you have two grown-up helpers. One helper is the town's "store watcher": a grown-up whose job is to keep an eye on the shops. You can tell the store watcher what happened. The store watcher keeps a file about the shop, and if lots of people complain, the store watcher can get the shop in trouble — even take away its license to sell toys. But here's the catch: the store watcher is not your lawyer, and the store watcher doesn't hand you your money back. For that, you go to the second helper: the small-claims courtroom, a special class where the teacher hears both sides — you and the shop — and can order the shop to pay you back, but only up to the class limit (a small amount for the "small claims" class, a bigger amount for the "special civil" class). And one more thing: if the "toy shop" was actually a scam run by strangers in another state, there is also a national "scam catcher" team that works for the whole country — you can tell them too, but they work under national rules, not your town's.

Now let's translate that story back to the real rule: the town's store watcher is the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, whose Office of Consumer Protection investigates consumer complaints and enforces the state's Consumer Fraud Act [S1][S2]. The small-claims classroom is the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court: small claims for $5,000 or less, where most people appear without a lawyer, and the Special Civil section for claims up to $20,000 [S3][S4][S5]. And the national scam catcher is the Federal Trade Commission, the federal agency that enforces federal consumer protection laws and takes reports of fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov — a federal option separate from the New Jersey state paths [S6][S7].

Real Case Reference (if applicable)

No published judicial decision is cited here, and none is needed: this topic describes the administrative complaint process and the small-claims paths available to New Jersey consumers rather than a litigated dispute. The governing authorities are the official pages of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, the New Jersey Judiciary, and the Federal Trade Commission, all of which were verified on 2026-08-20 [S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7].

Key Takeaways

• The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs accepts complaints against businesses, licensed professionals, brokerages, and more, and its Office of Consumer Protection investigates complaints and enforces the Consumer Fraud Act [S1][S2].
• Division complaints can be filed online or by email, but anything you submit may be subject to public disclosure under New Jersey's Open Public Records Act — do not include sensitive personal information [S1].
• For money claims of $5,000 or less, the Small Claims section offers a simpler path where most people appear without a lawyer; the filing fee is $35 for one defendant, with a fee waiver for qualifying low-income litigants [S3].
• For claims over $5,000 and up to $20,000, the Special Civil section handles consumer disputes — including defective merchandise and faulty workmanship — with filing fees of $50 or $75 depending on the amount claimed [S4].
• Claims over $20,000 belong in the Law Division of the Superior Court, not the Special Civil Part; suing in Special Civil for more than $20,000 waives the excess [S4][S5].
• The FTC is the federal agency that enforces federal consumer protection laws; consumers can report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov — a federal option separate from the New Jersey state paths [S6][S7].

Sources

• [S1] New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, "To File a Complaint," https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Pages/Consumer-Complaints.aspx (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S2] New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, "Office of Consumer Protection," https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/ocp/Pages/default.aspx (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S3] New Jersey Courts, "Small Claims Court," https://www.njcourts.gov/self-help/small-claims-court (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S4] New Jersey Courts, "Special Civil Court," https://www.njcourts.gov/self-help/special-civil-court (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S5] New Jersey Courts, "Civil Practice Division," https://www.njcourts.gov/courts/civil (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S6] Federal Trade Commission, https://www.ftc.gov/ (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S7] Federal Trade Commission, "ReportFraud.ftc.gov," https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ (verified 2026-08-20).

Not Legal Advice

Not legal advice. This material is general public legal education about New Jersey law and procedure. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and may not reflect the most current law. Consult a licensed New Jersey attorney about your specific situation.