How to File a Complaint Against a Business in L.A. County

The county's consumer office takes complaints online, by phone and by email, and its mediators handle business disputes for free.

A business took your money, and now it won't fix the problem or call you back. Los Angeles County's Department of Consumer and Business Affairs will take that complaint. Its counselors and mediators don't charge you anything.

The department says it investigates several kinds of fraud, among them real estate scams, phony immigration services, stolen identities and older residents being cheated out of money, and it can send serious offenders to local law enforcement. Counselors there will also take your questions about a debt, a credit problem, something you bought or a car deal. Its mediation service is open to people and businesses anywhere in L.A. County.

Here's the order to do it in.

1. Find your problem first. The department's consumer-protection pages sort their advice by topic: purchases, contracts, avoiding fraud, credit and debit cards, identity theft, renting, and cars, whether you're buying one, leasing one, getting one fixed or facing a repossession.
2. File the complaint online. The department's contact page points you to the "Get Help" button on its website, which leads to the complaint system. Email works too: write to a counselor at dcba@dcba.lacounty.gov.
3. Or call. Inside L.A. County, the toll-free number is 800-593-8222. From outside the county, it's 213-974-1452. You can also book a free one-on-one phone appointment with a counselor.
4. Or send it on paper. The mailing address is 320 W. Temple St., Room G-10, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The fax number is 213-687-1137.
5. Ask for mediation if what you want is a deal. Use the department's online mediation portal to open a case, schedule a session, look over offers to settle and message your mediator.

After your request comes in, the county mails you a postcard saying it has it. Then it sends the business a letter asking it to take part.

You're wondering whether the business can just ignore that letter. If it doesn't answer, the mediator calls it. But it still has to say yes: mediation is voluntary, and both sides have to agree before it starts.

Once both sides agree, the mediator calls you to go over the dispute and asks how you want to meet. You can sit down face to face at a time and place that works for you. In telephone conciliation, the mediator talks to each side separately and you never deal with the other person directly. In a telephone caucus, everyone's on the line at once, but the mediator still talks to each side privately.

The mediator doesn't take sides, and what's said can stay confidential. If you reach a deal at a face-to-face session, both sides can sign the agreement right there.

If it doesn't settle, you haven't lost anything. You can still go to court, and the department's Small Claims Court advisors can help you file the case, serve the papers, prepare for the hearing and collect a judgment if you win.

Going to court doesn't end your chance at a deal, either. The department also runs on-the-spot mediation inside L.A. County Superior Court for Small Claims, eviction and civil harassment cases.

The mistake people make comes when a court date is already set. A mediation request doesn't pause the case. If you haven't settled by the hearing date, everyone still has to show up in court.

So if you already have a hearing, count back 21 business days from that date. That's the county's cutoff for a mediation request when a hearing is pending, and it says it needs that much lead time to work through the request. And keep the hearing on your calendar no matter what.

Source: Los Angeles County, retrieved November 4, 2026. Other sources: Los Angeles County (2), Los Angeles County (3), Los Angeles County (4).