(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Buying club” means any partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, trust, or any other legal entity that offers memberships to consumers for a fee whereby such consumers may purchase consumer goods or services from such entity either exclusively from a catalog or whose membership fee is two hundred dollars or greater;
(2) “Consumer” means any person who purchases a consumer good or service other than for resale;
(3) “Consumer goods or services” means goods or services purchased or leased primarily for personal, family, leisure, entertainment or household purposes.
(b) (1) No agreement between a buying club and a consumer shall be effective if it is not in writing and does not include a conspicuous statement, in boldface type of a minimum size of ten points in substantially the following form:
YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE THIRD BUSINESS DAY AFTER THE DATE OF THIS TRANSACTION. SEE THE ATTACHED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION FORM FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THIS RIGHT.
(2) No buying club shall:
(A) Fail to furnish each buyer, at the time he signs the membership contract or otherwise agrees to join such buying club, a completed form in duplicate, captioned “NOTICE OF CANCELLATION”, which shall be attached to the contract and easily detachable, and which shall contain in ten-point boldface type the following information and statements in the same language as that used in the contract:
NOTICE OF CANCELLATION
.... (Date of Transaction)
YOU MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION, WITHIN THREE BUSINESS DAYS FROM THE ABOVE DATE. IF YOU CANCEL, ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY YOU UNDER THE CONTRACT WILL BE RETURNED WITHIN TEN BUSINESS DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE BUYING CLUB OF YOUR CANCELLATION NOTICE. TO CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, MAIL OR DELIVER A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF THIS CANCELLATION NOTICE OR ANY OTHER WRITTEN NOTICE, OR SEND A TELEGRAM TO .... (Name of Seller) AT .... (Address of Seller's Place of Business) NOT LATER THAN MIDNIGHT OF .... (Date)
I HEREBY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION.
.... (Date)
.... (Buyer's Signature)
(B) Fail to inform each consumer, orally, at the time he signs the contract of his right to cancel;
(C) Misrepresent in any manner the buyer's right to cancel; or
(D) Fail or refuse to honor any valid notice of cancellation by a consumer and within ten business days after the receipt of such notice to refund all payments made under the contract or sale.
(P.A. 96-196, S. 12; P.A. 13-196, S. 13.)
History: P.A. 13-196 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing definition of “consumer goods” with definition of “consumer goods or services” in Subdiv. (3) and making conforming changes in Subdivs. (1) and (2), effective June 21, 2013.