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Hotel To Pay Just Under $65K In Sandy Price Gouging Case

By David Madden

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, NJ (CBS) -- New Jersey continues going after businesses that officials contend took advantage of the disaster that was Hurricane Sandy. This week, they reached agreement with an Atlantic County hotel over more than 500 instances of overcharging people during a state of emergency in the aftermath of the storm.

The owners of the Econo Lodge in Egg Harbor Township have settled on a payment of just under $65,000, according to Jeff Lamm with the state division of Consumer Affairs.

The Econo Lodge will be making a payment that includes restitution to the affected consumers, as well as a civil penalty to the state for violating our price gauging law.

That limits price increases to no more than 10 percent during a declared emergency.

The agreement puts a $25,000 fine on hold, payable only if Econo Lodge does it again. All but four of the 27 cases of alleged price gauging statewide have now been settled.

 

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