                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

UNTRUE, DECEPTIVE OR MISLEADING ADVERTISING, INDUCEMENTS, WRITINGS OR DOCUMENTS
(§ 18.2-216)

A. Any person, firm, corporation or association who, with intent to sell or in
anywise dispose of merchandise, securities, service or anything offered by such
person, firm, corporation or association, directly or indirectly, to the public
for sale or distribution or with intent to increase the consumption thereof, or
to induce the public in any manner to enter into any obligation relating
thereto, or to acquire title thereto, or any interest therein, makes, publishes,
disseminates, circulates or places before the public, or causes, directly or
indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the
public, in a newspaper or other publications, or in the form of a book, notice,
handbill, poster, blueprint, map, bill, tag, label, circular, pamphlet or letter
or in any other way, an advertisement of any sort regarding merchandise,
securities, service, land, lot or anything so offered to the public, which
advertisement contains any promise, assertion, representation or statement of
fact which is untrue, deceptive or misleading, or uses any other method, device
or practice which is fraudulent, deceptive or misleading to induce the public to
enter into any obligation, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
			The actions prohibited in this section, shall be construed as including (i)
the advertising in any manner by any person of any goods, wares or merchandise
as a bankrupt stock, receiver&#8217;s stock or trustee&#8217;s stock, if such
stock contains any goods, wares or merchandise put therein subsequent to the
date of the purchase by such advertiser of such stock, and if such advertisement
of any such stock fail to set forth the fact that such stock contains other
goods, wares or merchandise put therein, subsequent to the date of the purchase
by such advertiser of such stock in type as large as the type used in any other
part of such advertisement, including the caption of the same, it shall be a
violation of this section; and (ii) the use of any writing or document which
appears to be, but is not in fact a negotiable check, negotiable draft or other
negotiable instrument unless the writing clearly and conspicuously, in at least
14-point bold type, bears the phrase &#8220;THIS IS NOT A CHECK&#8221; printed
on its face.

B. An allegation made by a plaintiff in a civil pleading that a defendant real
estate licensee has violated this section shall be stated with particularity.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 59.1-44; 1968, c. 439; 1975, cc. 14, 15, 507; 2005, c.
150; 2014, cc. 650, 696.