In His opening statement on the Hearing on the Bereaved Consumer Bill of Rights Act, Bobby Rush outlined the legislation
The legislation is significant in that it APPLIES TO NOT FOR PROFIT FUNERAL HOMES. This significant action by the US Congress came as a result of the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal Outside Chicago.
Here is his outline of the legislation.
“Among H.R. 3655′s provisions, the bill would require the FTC to require ALL funeral goods and services providers, and not just “for profit” funeral homes, to do the following:
- provide consumers with accurate, itemized price information for each specific funeral good or service offered for sale;
- prohibit these providers from misrepresenting what federal, state, and local laws require in protecting consumers;
- include disclosures in pre-paid contracts regarding fees or penalties to be assessed for cancellation or transfer, by the purchaser, of burial, cremation, or entombment rights to different facilities, and
- retain records of the date and location of each burial, cremation, and entombment as well as the corresponding rights of disposition (i.e., perpetual or term), and make those records available to federal, state, and local governments.
“In drafting this Bill of Rights, I have been earnest in respecting existing states’ laws. The bill would authorize both the FTC and the States Attorneys General, and other designated state entities, to enforce its requirements.
via www.house.gov
