BILL NUMBER: AB 1709 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 286
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 13, 1998
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 12, 1998
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 3, 1998
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 30, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 6, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 1998
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alquist
(Coauthor: Senator Watson)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Perata)
JANUARY 27, 1998
An act to add Sections 7685.5, 9663, and 17530.7 to the Business
and Professions Code, relating to cemetery and funeral fraud.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1709, Alquist. Cemetery and funeral fraud.
(1) Existing law requires that funeral directors, upon beginning
discussion of prices or of the funeral goods and services offered,
provide a detailed printed listing specifying the price for the
professional services offered to their prospective customers.
This bill would additionally require that a funeral establishment
or cemetery authority make available to any individual who, in
person, inquires about funeral or cemetery purchases, a copy of a
consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases, provided and
approved by the Department of Consumer Affairs, in consultation with
the funeral and cemetery industries and other interested parties.
The department would be required to make the guide available both in
printed form and electronically on the Internet.
This bill would also provide that it is unlawful for any person,
other than a funeral director, to sell or to offer to sell, on a
retail basis, a casket, alternative container, or outer burial
container, unless the person complies with certain price and
disclosure requirements.
The bill would expand the scope of activities that are to be
undertaken by sellers of human remains containers and that are
subject to existing misdemeanor provisions governing funeral
practices, and, thus, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program by the creation of a new crime.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 7685.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
7685.5. (a) The Department of Consumer Affairs shall make
available to funeral establishments and cemetery authorities a copy
of a consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases for purposes
of reproduction and distribution. The funeral and cemetery guide
that is approved by the Department of Consumer Affairs, in
consultation with the funeral and cemetery industries and any other
interested parties, shall be made available in printed form and
electronically through the Internet.
(b) A funeral establishment shall prominently display and make
available to any individual who, in person, inquires about funeral or
cemetery purchases, a copy of the consumer guide for funeral and
cemetery purchases, reproduced as specified in subdivision (a).
SEC. 2. Section 9663 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
9663. (a) The Department of Consumer Affairs shall make available
to funeral establishments and cemetery authorities a copy of a
consumer guide for funeral and cemetery purchases for purposes of
reproduction and distribution. The funeral and cemetery guide that
is approved by the Department of Consumer Affairs, in consultation
with the funeral and cemetery industries and any other interested
parties, shall be made available in printed form and electronically
through the Internet.
(b) A cemetery authority shall prominently display and make
available to any individual who, in person, inquires about funeral or
cemetery purchases, a copy of the consumer guide for funeral and
cemetery purchases, reproduced as specified in subdivision (a).
SEC. 3. Section 17530.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
17530.7. It is unlawful for any person, other than a funeral
director as defined in Section 7615, to sell, or offer to sell, on a
retail basis, a casket, alternative container, or outer burial
container, unless that person does all of the following:
(a) Provides to any person, upon beginning any discussion of
prices, a written or printed list containing, but not necessarily
limited to, the price of all caskets and containers that are normally
offered for sale by that seller. The seller shall also provide a
written statement or list that, at a minimum, specifically identifies
particular caskets or containers by price and by thickness of metal,
type of wood, or other construction, and by interior and color, when
a request for specific information on caskets or containers is made
in person by any individual. This information shall also be provided
over the telephone, upon request.
(b) Places the price in a conspicuous manner on each casket.
Individual price tags on caskets shall include the thickness of metal
and type of wood or other construction, as applicable, in addition
to interior and color information.
(c) Places in a conspicuous manner on each casket represented as
having a sealing device of any kind, the following notices in at
least eight-point boldface type: "THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC OR OTHER
EVIDENCE THAT ANY CASKET WITH A SEALING DEVICE WILL PRESERVE HUMAN
REMAINS."
(d) Furnishes to the buyer prior to the sale, a written or printed
itemized statement of all costs associated with the sale.
(e) Provides to the buyer a statement that includes a notice to
the buyer that he or she may contact the office of the district
attorney in that jurisdiction with any questions or complaints. At a
minimum, the information shall be in eight-point boldface type, and
state the following: "THE SELLER IS NOT A FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND IS
NOT LICENSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, AND MAY NOT OFFER
OR PERFORM FUNERAL SERVICES. STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS PROHIBIT A
FUNERAL DIRECTOR FROM CHARGING HANDLING FEES FOR A CASKET SUPPLIED BY
ANOTHER PARTY. THE MONEYS RECEIVED BY THE SELLER FOR THE PURCHASE
OF A CASKET ARE NOT SUBJECT TO STATE LAW GOVERNING MONEY HELD IN
TRUST. THE SELLER IS NOT BOUND BY STATE LAWS OR REGULATIONS THAT
GOVERN FUNERAL HOMES AND CEMETERIES. THE PURCHASER ENTERS THIS
AGREEMENT AT HIS OR HER OWN RISK. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN YOUR COUNTY."
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless
otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become
operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the
California Constitution.