False, Deceptive, or Misleading Advertising

NRS 207.171 – Penalties Associated with Using False, Deceptive, or Misleading Advertising

Under Nevada State Law, specifically NRS 207.171, it is a crime for an individual or company to spread false or misleading advertising.

The crime of false, deceptive, or misleading advertising occurs when a person or organization publishes or distributes, either directly or indirectly, a statement that is or that they know to be false, with the intent to induce or entice a person to take part in a transaction. This law applies to both land and personal property.

The language of this statute is very broad and extends to false advertising that is distributed through any medium, including traditional media like television ads, radio ads, and mailings, as well as more uncommon media like door-to-door sales, emails, proclamations, or public outcries.

The statute does not require actual deception in order for a crime to have occurred. The statute extends to any statement that “has a tendency” to mislead the public. In short, the statement needs to have been intentionally false for a crime to have occurred, but no one in the general public needs to have been actually deceived by the statement for the crime to have occurred.

The key provisions of this statute are:

• The statement must be intentionally false.
• The statement must be one that a reasonable person or entity writing the statement could have ascertained that statement was false with reasonable effort.
• It must be part of a scheme to entice a person to partake in a transaction, whether it be selling, purchasing, leasing, or acquiring any interest in the property.

Exceptions to NRS 207.171

The following are excluded from False or Deceptive advertising:

• Radio or television stations
• Newspapers, magazines, and other entities that disseminate and distribute advertising for third parties

These exceptions ensure that only those that actually produce the false and misleading advertising are held liable, not the entities that run third-party ads as part of their business practices.

Defenses to a False, Deceptive, or Misleading Advertising charge under NRS 207.170

If you or a loved one has been charged with violating NRS 2-7/170 in Nevada, it is important to remember that the burden of proof is upon the State of Nevada to prove that you have committed the crime. Most crimes have defenses that can be raised to refute the state’s argument. An experienced attorney may raise the following defenses against a charge of false advertising:

• Intent to sell. In order for a crime to occur, the false advertising must have been done with the intent to sell something or coerce someone into a transaction. If there is no intent to use the false advertising to sell or induce a transaction, then no crime has occurred.
• It is required that, for example, a price be intentionally misstated to entice a person to conduct the transaction. If the price printed or disseminated was a good-faith mistake, no crime has occurred. The classic example of this is when an advertisement states something is selling for $10.00 when it is actually selling for $100.00. This is not an intentional misstatement but a basic typo and therefore not false advertising.
• The alleged false statement must have been one that a person could have ascertained was false with reasonable effort. Therefore, if it is impossible to show the statement was false, that may be a valid defense against the charge.