San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that Lowe’s entered into a stipulated judgment and will pay $1.1 million to settle a civil law enforcement complaint that alleged the home improvement retailer engaged in false advertising and unfair competition in California.

The action was filed in San Diego County Superior Court by a team of prosecutors from Northern and Southern California including the District Attorneys of San Diego, Alameda, Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Sonoma counties. Lowe’s operates 110 stores in California.

“Retailers must charge consumers the lowest advertised price – that’s the law,” DA Stephan said. “I am grateful to our Economic Crimes and Consumer Protection Division for holding retailers accountable and for protecting San Diegans.”

The civil complaint filed by the prosecution team alleged that the retailer unlawfully charged customers prices higher than their lowest advertised or posted price throughout California. The judgment includes an injunction that prohibits Lowe’s from engaging in false or misleading advertising. It requires the retailer to initiate and maintain a new robust price accuracy policy and procedures which include more employees involved in price accuracy, additional internal audits and an agreement not to raise prices over the weekend. The judgment also requires the home improvement retailer to pay $1 million in civil penalties and just under $90,000 in costs and restitution to cover the counties’ weights and measures investigations and support future enforcement of consumer protection laws.

Over the past 10 years, the San Diego County DA’s consumer protection filings have led to 87 civil judgments, resulting in court-ordered statewide penalties totaling more than $134 million.

The San Diego County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures inspected Lowe’s stores throughout San Diego County and is instrumental in monitoring retailers to make sure that consumers are being charged the correct price. Consumers may report scanner issues to Weights and Measures online by using the General Consumer Complaint Form or by calling 1-888-TRUE-SCAN (878-3722) (toll free) or e-mail sdcawm@sdcounty.ca.gov.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Economic Crimes and Consumer Protection Division brings civil and criminal actions to protect San Diego County consumers. The division investigates and prosecutes fraud and unlawful business practices in the marketplace. The division includes a team of experienced attorneys, investigators, and other professional staff who investigate and evaluate reports of fraudulent and unfair business practices and determine appropriate action.

Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Turner prosecuted this case for the San Diego County District Attorney.