ASSEMBLY CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND REGULATED PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 2360
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: NOVEMBER 7, 1996
The Assembly Consumer Affairs and Regulated Professions Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 2360.
As amended, this bill requires registration of persons who engage in the business of offering or selling merchandise through a commercial telephone solicitation with the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
Under the bill's provisions, every commercial telephone seller, including any person whose residence or principal place of business is located outside of this State, shall annually register with the director to do business in this State. The bill also makes violators of this bill subject to the provisions of the consumer fraud law, P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.). In addition, the bill authorizes the director to refuse to issue or renew, or to suspend or revoke the registration of any person who violates the bill's provisions.
The bill further requires those registered as commercial telephone sellers to maintain a bond of not less than $50,000, to be filed or deposited with the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs for the use of any person who is damaged or suffers any loss for any violation of the bill.
Another stipulation of this bill is that within the first 30 seconds of a telephone call, a commercial telephone seller shall identify himself by stating his name, the person on whose behalf the solicitation is being made, and the merchandise being sold; if a sale or an agreement to purchase is completed, the commercial telephone seller shall inform the purchaser of his cancellation rights as provided in the bill, state the registration number issued by the director for the commercial telephone seller, give the street address of the commercial telephone seller, and provide any other disclosure as prescribed by the director. The bill also enumerates the cancellation, refund, credit and replacement provisions available to a purchaser of merchandise as a result of a telephone solicitation and also establishes that before a purchase of merchandise following a telephone solicitation is final, there must be a signed written contract which contains various disclosures of information and explanation of a purchaser's rights as stipulated in this bill.
The committee amended section 4 of the bill to include additional financial institution which are to be exempt from its provisions. The amendments also provide that the requirements specified in subsections a. through e. of section 12 of this bill shall not apply to any sale in which the purchaser is given a full refund for the return of undamaged and unused merchandise, or a cancellation notice is given to the commercial telephone seller, within seven days after receipt of the merchandise by the purchaser, and the commercial telephone seller processes the refund within 30 days after receipt of the returned merchandise by the purchaser. Subsections a. through e. of section 12 contain provisions relating to requirements concerning written contracts, conditions about notices of cancellation of a contract, and conditions under which cancellation of a contract take effect.