GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	3 

HOUSE BILL 1314
Committee Substitute Favorable 6/8/98
Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 8/5/98

Short Title:  Cemetery Consumer Protection.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to: 

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May 18, 1998

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MAKE CERTAIN CHANGES TO REGULATIONS REGARDING CEMETERIES TO PROVIDE FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION, BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH COMMISSION'S STUDY COMMITTEE ON CEMETERY ISSUES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 65-53 is amended by inserting a new subdivision to read:
"(3a)	Investigate, upon its own initiative or upon a verified complaint in writing, whether a particular contract for the sale of personal property or services, whether preneed or at-need, contains the disclosures required pursuant to G.S. 65-66(d) and to adopt temporary rules pursuant to Chapter 150B of the General Statutes, if necessary, to implement this subdivision until such time as permanent rules are adopted."
Section 2.  G.S. 65-66(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Any contract for the sale of personal  property or services, whether preneed or at-need, shall disclose the following:
(1)	The cost for each item of personal property and for each act of installation or other service required by the contract, including any costs for the right of interment, entombment, or inurnment;
(2)	Specification of whether opening and closing of a grave space, mausoleum space, or columbarium space is included in the contract, and, if not, the current prices for opening and closing and a statement that these prices are subject to change;
(3)	Any requirements or costs relating to memorial markers, including any obligations of the grave space, mausoleum space, or columbarium space owner if the owner desires to have an outside provider provide the marker and any costs relating to having an outside provider provide and place a marker;
(4)	A statement describing, in language that is readable and understandable by a person of average intelligence, experience, and education, the nature of the property right in the grave space, mausoleum space, or columbarium space;
(5)	A statement that a preneed purchaser has, pursuant to G.S. 65-66(m), 30 days following the execution of a contract to cancel the contract by giving written notice to the seller and that the seller may cancel the contract, upon default by the purchaser, by giving written notice to the purchaser. The statement shall include (i) whether or not the purchaser may transfer the purchaser's rights in the property to another person or organization and (ii) whether or not the seller will refund all or part of the purchase price and the conditions under which a refund will be made, after the 30-day period, including the purchaser moving from one locale to another;
(6)	If the grave space, mausoleum space, or columbarium space has been previously sold by the cemetery company to a purchaser and the space was used in the final disposition interment, entombment, or inurnment of human remains and has since returned to the inventory of available spaces, a statement that the space has been used for a prior interment, entombment, or inurnment;
(7)	A statement identifying the person or legal entity which owns the cemetery or provides the property or services, including whether the entity is wholly or partially owned by another corporation; and
(8)	If the purchaser may obtain property and services from an outside provider and elects to do so, a statement disclosing any fees or assessments charged to the outside provider.   
Section 3.  G.S. 65-53 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(9)	The Commission shall keep records of the complaints received and the action taken by the Commission on each complaint.  These records shall be kept for at least five years after receipt of the complaint."
Section 4.  G.S. 65-71 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( c)	Failure to comply with the disclosure requirements contained in G.S. 65-66(d) shall be punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor."
Section 5.  The Department of Justice through the Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, shall ensure that private, for-profit cemetery companies operate within Article 1 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, titled "Monopolies, Trusts, and Consumer Protection", the antitrust and unfair trade practices laws.
Section 6. When the Legislative Research Commission Committee on Cemetery Issues resumes its deliberations after the 1998 Regular Session, it shall consider the following issues, in addition to the issues contained in its original charge: (i) whether a purchaser of a grave space, mausoleum space, or columbarium space obtains a transfer of real property or merely burial rights; (ii) whether the nature of the property interest or right should be defined in statute; (iii) the extent to which there is overlap among the agencies which regulate the death care industry; and (iv) whether other providers of burial products and services should be regulated.
Section 7.  This act is effective January 1, 1999, and is applicable to contracts entered into on or after that date.