This week, Representative Bobby Rush, D-Ill., introduced the Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act of 2009 (H.R. 3655), which would require the Federal Trade Commission to initiate a separate rule that would cover cemeteries and all other sellers of funeral goods and services. To read the full text of the bill, click the following link: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3655. According to the text of the bill: “The Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Industry Practices Trade Regulation Rule dictates consumer protections in the funeral home, but does not cover the practices of cemeteries, crematoria, or sellers of monuments, urns or caskets… State laws are inconsistent and frequently too weak to provide adequate consumer protections, creating a need for minimum federal standards in the area.” NFDA is carefully analyzing the bill and its implications for funeral service. While it does impose some modest requirements on funeral homes, it appears that it contains provisions that NFDA has long-argued were necessary, given a dramatically changed marketplace in which consumers can purchase funeral goods and services from sellers that are lightly or even unregulated by state or federal law.
We will continue to keep you informed about the status of this bill in the coming weeks and months. If you have questions, comments or concerns about this bill, please contact NFDA Senior Vice President of Advocacy John Fitch at 202-547-0441 or jfitch@nfda.org.
via www.facebook.com