PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2780 PRINTER'S NO. 2907
No. 2090 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY FICHTER, BUNT, BOYD, BROWNE, CRAHALLA, DeLUCA,
GEORGE, GODSHALL, HARHAI, HARRIS, HORSEY, KOTIK, LEACH, MANN,
PERZEL, REICHLEY, SATHER, SAYLOR, SEMMEL, J. TAYLOR, THOMAS,
TIGUE, WATSON, YOUNGBLOOD, DeWEESE AND DENLINGER,
OCTOBER 14, 2003
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, NOVEMBER 17, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of December 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387),
2 entitled "An act prohibiting unfair methods of competition
3 and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of
4 any trade or commerce, giving the Attorney General and
5 District Attorneys certain powers and duties and providing
6 penalties," further providing for rescission of contracts.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 7(j) of the act of December 17, 1968
10 (P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair Trade Practices and
11 Consumer Protection Law, reenacted and amended November 24, 1976
12 (P.L.1166, No.260), is amended and the section is amended by
13 adding subsections to read:
14 Section 7. Contracts; Effect of Rescission.--* * *
15 [(j) Rights afforded under this section may be waived only
16 in circumstances where the goods or services are needed to meet
17 a bona fide immediate personal emergency of the buyer and the
18 buyer furnishes the seller with a separate dated and signed
1 personal statement in the buyer's handwriting describing the
2 situation requiring immediate remedy and expressly acknowledging
3 and waiving the right to cancel the sale within three business
4 days.]
5 (j.1) Where goods or services having a sale price of twenty-
6 five dollars ($25) or more are contracted to be sold to a buyer,
7 as a result of, or in connection with, a contract CONTACT made <--
8 by the buyer to the seller, and the goods or services contracted
9 for are needed to remedy a bona fide emergency on the buyer's
10 real property, the seller must furnish the buyer with an
11 emergency work authorization to immediately proceed with the
12 delivery of the goods or the performance of the services
13 necessary to remedy the bona fide emergency upon the waiver by
14 the buyer of the right to rescission provided in this section.
15 The emergency work authorization provided for in this section
16 shall be on a preprinted card at least four inches by six inches
17 in size and the writing thereon must be in at least ten point
18 bold face type in the following form:
19 Emergency Work Authorization
20 (Enter Date of Transaction)
21 You, the buyer, having initiated the contract for the
22 goods and services of (enter the name of the seller), the
23 seller, for the remediation of a bona fide emergency hereby
24 authorize the seller to immediately proceed with the delivery
25 of goods or the performance of services necessary to remedy
26 the bona fide emergency. By providing the seller with this
27 authorization, you agree to make full payment for the goods
28 or services provided and you agree not to exercise the rights
29 afforded you by the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer
30 Protection Law to cancel the contract within three business
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1 days from the above date.
2 You, the buyer, attest that the attached is an accurate
3 description of the goods and services to be provided by the
4 seller for the remediation of the bona fide emergency:
5 ...........................
6 (Date)
7 ..............................
8 (Buyer's Signature)
9 (j.2) The seller shall provide the buyer with an estimate of
10 the total cost of the goods or services, in writing, including
11 any service call fee, prior to the delivery of the goods or the
12 performance of the services necessary to remedy a bona fide
13 emergency. If the cost of the goods or services will exceed the
14 estimated total cost, the seller must obtain written
15 authorization of the buyer to proceed further. Nothing in this
16 subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the seller from
17 charging the buyer a service call fee, in addition to the
18 estimated costs, for the purpose of determining the cause of and
19 the appropriate remedy of the bona fide emergency. The seller
20 shall immediately disclose whether a service call fee shall be
21 charged upon initiation by the buyer of a contract for goods or
22 services for the remediation of a bona fide emergency.
23 * * *
24 (n) As used in this section, "bona fide emergency" means any
25 condition existing on the buyer's real property which renders,
26 or has the capability to render, the real property
27 uninhabitable. The term includes, but shall not be limited to,
28 conditions significantly affecting the heating system,
29 electrical system, plumbing system, ventilation system, roof or
30 outer walls of the real property.
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1 Section 2. The amendment or addition of section 7(j), (j.1)
2 (j.2) and (n) of the act shall apply to contracts entered into
3 on or after the effective date of this act.
4 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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