HOUSE BILL No. 4397 March 9, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Switalski, DeHart, Martinez, Baird, Lemmons, Jacobs, Schauer, Dennis, Woodward, Rivet, Bogardus, Pappageorge, Cherry, Wojno, Spade, Vaughn, Scott, Callahan, Gieleghem, Minore, Jamnick, Koetje, Hardman, Daniels, Woronchak, Reeves, Hale, Bob Brown, Vear, Sanborn, Richner, Tabor, Hart, Rocca, Brater, Stallworth, DeWeese, Byl, Bishop, O'Neil, Bovin, Thomas, LaForge, Cassis, Mortimer, Toy, Julian, Garcia, Kilpatrick, Hanley and Patterson and referred to the Committee on Insurance and Financial Services. A bill to amend 1971 PA 227, entitled "An act to prescribe the rights and duties of parties to home solicitation sales," by amending sections 2 and 3 (MCL 445.112 and 445.113). THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 2. (1) Except as provided in subsection (5),AND in 2 addition to any right otherwise to revoke an offer, a buyer has 3 the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of 4 the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an 5 agreement or offer to purchasewhichTHAT complies with this 6 act. 7 (2) Cancellation occurs when the buyer mails or delivers the 8 notice of cancellationprovided forDESCRIBED in section 3(2) 9 or any other written notice,or sends aINCLUDING A WRITTEN 01050'99 DMS 2 1 NOTICE TRANSMITTED BY E-MAIL, FACSIMILE, OR telegram, to the 2 seller at the address stated in the notice of cancellation. 3 (3) A notice of cancellation or other written notice, if4 mailed to the seller,is given when it is deposited in a mail- 5 box properly addressed and postage prepaid. 6 (4) A written notice or telegram given by the buyer other 7 than the notice of cancellation need not take a particular form 8 and is sufficient if it indicates by any form of written expres- 9 sion the intention of the buyer not to be bound by the home 10 solicitation sale. 11 (5) A buyer may not cancel a home solicitation sale if the 12 buyer requests THAT the sellertoprovide goods or services 13 without delay because of an emergency, and ALL OF THE FOLLOWING 14 CONDITIONS ARE MET: 15 (a)theTHE seller in good faith makes a substantial 16 beginning of performance of the contract before the buyer gives 17 notice of cancellation.,18 (b)theTHE buyer furnishes the seller with a separate 19 dated and signed personal statement in the buyer's handwriting 20 describing the situation requiring immediate remedy and expressly 21 acknowledging and waiving the right to cancel the sale within 3 22 business days., and23 (c)inIN the case of goods, the goods cannot be returned 24 to the seller in substantially as good condition as when received 25 by the buyer. 01050'99 3 1 (6) If a home solicitation sale is also subject to the 2 debtor's right to rescind certain transactions, the buyer may 3 proceed either under those provisions or under this section. 4 Sec. 3. (1)InUNLESS THE BUYER IN a home solicitation 5 sale, unless the buyerrequests THAT the sellertoprovide 6 goods or services without delay in an emergency, the seller shall 7 present to the buyer and obtain the buyer's signaturetoON a 8 written agreement or offer to purchasewhich designates as the9date of the transaction the date on which the buyer actually10signs.THAT IS WRITTEN IN A CLEAR AND COHERENT MANNER USING 11 WORDS AND PHRASES OF COMMON AND EVERYDAY MEANING, APPROPRIATELY 12 DIVIDED AND CAPTIONED BY ITS VARIOUS SECTIONS, AND INCLUDING ALL 13 OF THE FOLLOWING: 14 (A)The agreement or offer to purchase shall contain aTHE 15 NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER OF THE SELLER. 16 (B) AN ITEMIZATION OF ALL CHARGES ARISING FROM THE TRANSAC- 17 TION, INCLUDING ANY HANDLING, SHIPPING, OR DELIVERY FEES. 18 (C) THE DATE OF THE TRANSACTION. 19 (D) A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE GOODS OR SERVICES BEING 20 PROVIDED BY THE SELLER IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TRANSACTION. 21 (E) A STATEMENT SPECIFYING THAT THE DATE OF THE TRANSACTION 22 IS THE DATE UPON WHICH THE BUYER ACTUALLY SIGNS THE WRITTEN 23 AGREEMENT OR OFFER TO PURCHASE. 24 (F) A statement substantially as follows in immediate prox- 25 imity to the space reserved in the agreement or offer to purchase 26 for the signature of the buyer: 01050'99 4 1 "You, the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time 2 prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of 3 this transaction. See the attached notice of cancellation form 4 for an explanation of this right." 5 (2) The seller shall attach to the copy or cause to be 6 printed on the reverse side of the written agreement or offer to 7 purchase retained by the buyer a notice of cancellation in dupli- 8 cate which shall appear as follows: 9 10 "notice of cancellation 11 (enter date of transaction) 12 (date) 13 You may cancel this transaction, without any penalty or 14 obligation, within 3 business days from the above date. 15 If you cancel, any property traded in, any payments made by 16 you under the contract or sale, and any negotiable instrument 17 executed by you will be returned within 10 business days follow- 18 ing receipt by the seller of your cancellation notice, and any 19 security interest arising out of the transaction will be 20 canceled. 21 If you cancel, you must make available to the seller at your 22 residence, in substantially as good condition as when received, 23 any goods delivered to you under this contract or sale; or you 24 may if you wish, comply with the instructions of the seller 25 regarding the return shipment of the goods at the seller's 26 expense and risk. 27 If you do make the goods available to the seller and the 28 seller does not pick them up within 20 days of the date of your 01050'99 5 1 notice of cancellation, you may retain or dispose of the goods 2 without any further obligation. If you fail to make the goods 3 available to the seller or if you agree to return the goods to 4 the seller and fail to do so, then you remain liable for per- 5 formance of all obligations under the contract. 6 To cancel this transaction, mail or deliver a signed and 7 dated copy of this cancellation notice or any other written 8 notice, or send a telegram to (name of seller), at (address of 9 seller's place of business) not later than midnight on 10 11 ______________________________ 12 (date) 13 I hereby cancel this transaction. 14 ______________________________ 15 (date) 16 ______________________________ 17 (buyer's signature) " 18 (3) The notices required by this section shall be in not 19 less than 10-point bold type and shall be 2 points larger than 20 the text of the contract. A written agreement or offer to pur- 21 chase and the notice of cancellation attached to the agreement or 22 offer shall be written in the same language as that used in any 23 oral presentationwhichTHAT was given to facilitate sale of 24 the goods or services. The seller shall enter on the blanks in 25 the notice of cancellation the date of transaction, which is the 26 date the buyer signs the written agreement, and the date for 27 mailing the notice of cancellation. An error in entering this 28 informationshallDOES not diminish the buyer's rights under 29 this act. 30 (4) Until the seller has complied with this section, the 31 buyer may cancel the home solicitation sale by notifying the 01050'99 6 1 seller in any manner and by any means of his or her intention to 2 cancel. 01050'99 Final page. DMS