Cari Fais is the first Latina to serve as director of the Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”), according to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.
“I am honored and humbled to be entrusted with the important work being done by the Division of Consumer Affairs,” Fais said. “I thank Governor Murphy for his support and the Senate for its unanimous confirmation.”
Fais was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate on Oct. 28. She has overseen the state’s consumer protection agency as acting director since Gov. Phil Murphy announced her nomination in April 2022.
She has led the Division in important consumer protection initiatives aimed at protecting vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers in New Jersey. Those initiatives include using the Division’s enforcement powers to halt predatory lending practices, protect elderly investors from securities fraud and financial exploitation, and hold national discount retail chains accountable for targeting underserved communities with deceptive business practices.
Fais has also prioritized data privacy, cybersecurity, and technology accountability. Under her leadership, the Division has taken action against social media companies for deceptive and unconscionable conduct that harms New Jersey’s children, obtained significant settlements against corporations that failed to safeguard consumers’ personal data, and secured reforms from technology companies that misrepresented their data privacy and security practices.
“Since her nomination, Cari Fais has demonstrated strong leadership skills and an unwavering commitment to consumer protection in New Jersey,” Murphy said.
As head of the Division of Consumer Affairs, Fais leads a civil law enforcement and regulatory agency of more than 500 employees charged with protecting the safety and well-being of New Jersey residents. The Division pursues this mission through its Office of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Securities, Charities Section, Office of Weights and Measures, and Legalized Games of Chance Section, as well as 51 professional and occupational boards that oversee over 750,000 licensed professionals, and its Regulated Business Section that oversees approximately 60,000 registered businesses.
Under Director Fais’ leadership, the Division has taken numerous consumer protection actions to significantly impact the lives of New Jerseyans. Among them are:
- proposing new rules aimed at promoting greater transparency in prescription drug pricing, including how and why prices are increased;
- suing social media giants TikTok and Meta for allegedly designing manipulative and harmful platforms meant to cause excessive, compulsive, and habitual use among their young users and deceptively marketing those platforms as safe for children;
- securing a $27.3 million settlement with Yellowstone Capital LLC and associated companies to resolve allegations that the companies cheated financially strapped small businesses and their owners out of millions of dollars by luring them into predatory lending arrangements disguised as cash advances;
- intervening to halt numerous entities from offering and selling unregistered securities in New Jersey, including those tied to cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens;
- acting to revoke, suspend, or otherwise restrict the practicing privileges of physicians and other medical professionals who commit sexual abuse and misconduct in office settings or who indiscriminately prescribe opioid medications that can lead to addiction or overdose deaths;
- targeting enforcement actions in industries that generate a high number of consumer complaints, including home improvement contractors, auto sales, and public movers; and
- proposing new rules aimed at eliminating biases that negatively impact the quality of care delivered by health care providers to women of color during pregnancy, labor, delivery, postpartum, and neonatal periods.
Before assuming leadership of the Division, Fais was chief of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where she directed criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions against corporations, executives, doctors, pharmacies, and others for the diversion of opioids, health care fraud, kickbacks, and the sale of misbranded drugs. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Fais investigated and prosecuted a variety of cases, including sophisticated frauds, violent crimes, and crimes against the United States.
Prior to attending law school, Fais was a victim advocate at Womanspace and at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office where she launched a program to provide services for domestic violence victims in Trenton Municipal Court. Fais received her B.A., summa cum laude, from George Washington University, and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a notes editor on the Columbia Law Review and served on the board of the Latinx Law Students Association.
