Sued Under Brazil’s Consumer Code? A Defense Guide for Foreign Companies

Defending foreign companies in Brazilian consumer disputes

A Brazilian consumer has sued your company — often in Portuguese, in a city you have never heard of, over a claim that can look small at first glance. Ignore it and a default judgment can follow. This guide explains, in plain English, what is really happening under Brazil’s Consumer Defense Code (the Código de Defesa do Consumidor, or CDC, Law No. 8.078/1990) and what a foreign company should do about it. We are licensed in Brazil and the United States and defend foreign companies in these disputes.

Reviewed by Luciano Oliveira, Esq., LL.M — licensed in Brazil, Texas, and California. Last reviewed July 2026.

This page is general information about consumer disputes and litigation in Brazil. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Consumer rules and thresholds change over time, and only a formal consultation with a lawyer licensed in Brazil, reviewing your specific facts, can tell you how the law applies to your situation.

Why a foreign company ends up in a Brazilian consumer case

The CDC applies to suppliers, and it defines suppliers broadly enough to reach companies that are national or foreign. If you sold a product or provided a service that reached a consumer in Brazil, you can be treated as a supplier under Brazilian law. Exposure usually arrives through one of a few doors:

selling or shipping products to consumers in Brazil;
apps, SaaS, marketplaces and e-commerce that Brazilian consumers use — platforms are frequently treated as suppliers too;
a local subsidiary, importer, distributor, or other company in your economic group, which can be pulled in as jointly responsible.

Why you can be liable even if you did nothing wrong

Two features of the CDC surprise almost every US defendant, because they are the opposite of what US litigation assumes:

Strict liability (responsabilidade objetiva). In most consumer claims the consumer does not have to prove that you were negligent — only that there was harm and a link to your product or service. Fault is largely beside the point.
The burden of proof can be reversed. A judge may shift the burden onto the supplier, so that you have to prove the product or service was fine, rather than the consumer proving it was not.

Together these mean a case you would expect to win easily in the US can start on the back foot in Brazil.

Why the case is in a town you’ve never heard of — and why your US contract clauses may not save you

Consumer protection in Brazil generally lets the consumer sue at or near their own home, which is how a foreign company gets summoned to a small, unfamiliar court far from any office. And the fine print you rely on at home often does not travel: clauses that cap or waive your liability, or that force arbitration or a US venue, are frequently treated as abusive and unenforceable when the other side is a Brazilian consumer. A contract that protects you in Texas or California may simply be ignored here.

How you got served — and whether a Brazilian judgment can reach your US assets

A US-based company is normally served through formal cross-border service of process (letters rogatory or the applicable service convention), which are slow — but a valid summons still starts the clock. On the enforcement side, the key question foreign defendants ask is whether a Brazilian judgment can reach assets back home. As a rule, a Brazilian judgment must first be recognized by a US court before it can be enforced against US assets, and a Brazilian presence (a subsidiary or group company) changes the exposure. We plan for enforcement from the start — see our work on recognition of foreign judgments and cross-border litigation and enforcement.

Your real defenses — and the deadlines that win or lose the case

Strict liability is not the same as no defense. The CDC gives suppliers specific ways out — for example, showing that you did not put the product on the market, that there was no defect, or that the harm was caused solely by the consumer or a third party. Just as important are deadlines: Brazilian consumer law sets short windows to complain and to sue, and those periods are easy for a foreign defendant to miss while an untranslated notice sits in an inbox. The exact timeframes are set by statute and change over time, so we confirm the current ones for your facts — but the point is constant: missing a deadline can hand the other side a win by default, while a deadline in your favor can end the case early. One caution: regulatory compliance or a “state of the art” argument, which can help in the US, is generally not a defense under Brazilian strict liability.

The moral-damages reality (danos morais)

Brazilian consumer judgments often add moral damages on top of the economic claim, and they are frequently awarded without the consumer proving concrete loss. Brazil does not recognize US-style punitive damages, but courts apply a deterrence rationale that can make awards feel punitive — and, crucially, the amount is set at the judge’s discretion and is hard to predict. We deliberately do not quote a “typical” figure, because there is no reliable standard and the parameters shift; anyone who promises you a number is guessing. Our job is to set realistic expectations and work the award down.

When it is not one lawsuit but many: collective actions

A single problem — one clause, one defect, one billing practice — can become more than scattered individual claims. Brazil has collective consumer mechanisms (such as the ação civil pública) that public prosecutors, consumer agencies, and certain associations can bring on behalf of large groups. For a foreign company, that means a minor recurring issue can escalate into a nationwide action, which calls for a very different strategy than a one-off small-claims case.

Industries most exposed

We see consumer-code exposure concentrated in a few sectors: airlines (international carriage carries its own treaty overlay, but moral-damages exposure remains), banks and fintech, telecom, marketplaces, SaaS and e-commerce, and importers and distributors. If you operate in one of these and touch Brazilian consumers, assume the CDC can apply.

Served with a consumer claim in Brazil? We can help.

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A case we handled (anonymized)

We defended a US company that had been sued in Brazil under the código de defesa do consumidor by a Brazilian consumer — the kind of matter where the instinct is to dismiss it as too small or too far away to matter. We appeared for the company, raised the right defenses, held the other side to the deadlines and proof the law actually requires, set realistic expectations about moral-damages exposure, and resolved the matter on terms the company could live with. Details are kept confidential; the lesson is not: engaging early changes the outcome.

Reputational risk — not just legal risk

In Brazil, a consumer dispute is rarely private. Complaints land on public reputation platforms (such as ReclameAqui), consumer-agency (PROCON) records can be visible, and court files are largely open. For a foreign company building trust in a new market, the harm to your brand can outlast the case itself — and Brazilian customers, partners, and even regulators pay attention to it. We treat this as part of the defense, not an afterthought: we coordinate the legal response with how the matter is handled publicly, work to resolve or contain public complaints, and protect your reputation in Brazil while the case proceeds.

How to stop being exposed

Defense is the moment; prevention is the follow-through. For foreign companies that sell into Brazil, that usually means CDC-compliant Portuguese terms of service, removing clauses that are void against consumers, watching for consumer-agency (PROCON) complaints, and — above all — knowing you have been sued before a default judgment lands. Our Brazil lawsuit monitoring and litigation alerts service exists for exactly that blind spot.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to fly to Brazil or appear in person?

Usually not in person. Much of a consumer case is handled in writing by Brazilian counsel appearing on your behalf. What matters is responding correctly and on time, not showing up yourself.

We are a US company with no office in Brazil. Do we even have to respond?

Almost always, yes. If you sold to or served a Brazilian consumer, a Brazilian court can hear the case, and ignoring a valid summons typically leads to a default judgment against you. Responding is how you preserve your defenses.

Can a Brazilian consumer judgment reach our US bank accounts or assets?

Not automatically. A Brazilian judgment generally must be recognized by a US court before it can be enforced against US assets, and a local Brazilian presence (a subsidiary, importer, or group company) changes the picture. It is a real risk, not an automatic seizure.

Moral damages for a small refund. Is that real?

Yes. Brazilian consumer cases often include danos morais (moral damages) on top of the economic claim, and awards are set at the judge’s discretion. The amount is hard to predict, which is exactly why early strategy matters.

What happens if we just ignore it?

The likely result is a default judgment (revelia) for the full amount claimed, decided without your defenses ever being heard, which then becomes something the other side can try to enforce. Ignoring it is the worst option.

Facing a Brazilian consumer lawsuit? We can help.