North Carolina’s price gouging law is usually triggered when the state suffers or is threatened by a natural disaster such as a hurricane, tornado, winter storm, or flooding.

Price gouging—or charging too much in times of crisis—is against North Carolina law when a disaster, an emergency or an abnormal market disruption for critical goods and services is declared or proclaimed by the Governor or a municipality.

The price gouging law is currently in effect for the state of North Caroina after a State of Emergency was declared on September 7, 2018 related to Hurricane Florence. 

Under the law, the Attorney General’s Office can put a stop to price gouging and seek refunds for consumers who paid too much. The courts may also impose civil penalties against price gougers of up to $5000 for each violation. The law applies to all levels of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the distributor to the retailer.Consumers have let the Attorney General’s Office know about price gouging in the past and we have enforced North Carolina’s price gouging law to win thousands of dollars in refunds and penalties from violators.The price gouging form is available here.