Update…
Feb. 15, 2010
Industry support grows for Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act
Consumer and death care industry support is growing for the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act (H.R. 3566) following a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) subcommittee hearing Jan. 27 in Washington, D.C. The bill was introduced last October by Bobby L. Rush, Chicago Democrat.
Charles Harwood, deputy director in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, testified in strong support of the goals of H.R. 3655, to give consumers greater protection against fraud and abusive practices in the funeral industry. The testimony states that while the legislation could entail compliance and enforcement costs, it could also benefit consumers.
The bill would prohibit deceptive acts by funeral services and protect consumers from misrepresentations. Congressman Rush is scheduled to speak to the Funeral Lobby in Early March..
Among H.R. 3655’s provisions, the bill would mandate the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to require all funeral goods and services providers to do the following:
- Provide consumers with accurate, itemized price information for each specific funeral good or service offered for sale
- Prohibit these providers from misrepresenting what federal, state, and local laws require in protecting consumers
- Include disclosures in pre-paid contracts regarding fees or penalties to be assessed for cancellation or transfer, by the purchaser, of burial, cremation, or entombment rights to different facilities
- Retain records of the date and location of each burial, cremation, and entombment as well as the corresponding rights of disposition, i.e., perpetual or term, and make those records available to federal, state and local governments
“In drafting this Bill of Rights, I have been earnest in respecting existing states’ laws. The bill would authorize both the FTC and the States Attorneys General, and other designated state entities, to enforce its requirements,” Rush testified. The bill, currently in the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection, was reviewed at a hearing Jan. 27. Members of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) and the National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association (NFD&MA) and the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) support the measure.
Also testifying in favor of Rush’s measure before the subcommittee was Patricia Brown Holmes, a retired judge whose father and brother are buried in Burr Oak Cemetery. Holmes is on the Cemetery Oversight Task Force in Illinois, which was formed in the wake of the Burr Oak incident (see below). She touted the group’s success in enacting legislation on the state level to address the problems in Illinois. The Cemetery Oversight Act of Illinois was signed into law on Jan. 17.
“It was the primary finding of the task force that without legislative reform and increased oversight of cemetery operations, the events that occurred at Burr Oak Cemetery and other cemeteries in the state of Illinois would continue to occur, and the same types of tragic stories the public has already heard too many times would continue to be told,” Holmes said in a story published in the Washington Times.
http://www.bereavedconsumersprotectionact.com/ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3655
Nov. 1, 2009
New federal cemetery and funeral consumer protection bill introduced
In wake of Burr Oak Cemetery scandal
U. S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Ill., introduced the Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act Oct. 3 in the wake of the Burr Cemetery scandal in Chicago last summer when law enforcement officials charged four Burr Oak employees for moving buried bodies in order to re-sell the burial plots., Rush chairs the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
In a written statement, Rush says his act would bring more regulations to the cemetery industry across the country. He says it would help prevent another Burr Oak from occurring.
In late September a state panel investigating the matter also called on more government oversight of the cemetery industry. The four Burr Oak employees have pleaded not guilty.
Following the Burr Oak discovery in July, Rush held hearings and promised to find some way to avoid another Burr Oak by protecting consumers. On Monday, he introduced a bill that gives more teeth to an already existing Federal Trade Commission rule that prohibits deceptive practices by the funeral industry. The bill will require cemeteries to keep clear records.
It's been almost three months since four Burr Oak Cemetery workers were arrested for illegally digging up bodies in order to resell burial plots. Since then, emotions have run high and families of loved ones buried at this Alsip cemetery have felt ignored.
Congressman Rush hopes to change that by introducing federal legislation that protects the consumer. "The new law is designed to prohibit cemetery operators from acting unfairly on their dealings with consumers," said Congressman Rush.
Rush said the bill would require cemeteries to provide customers with all the rules and regulations of that cemetery, as well as give consumers a clear explanation of the plot they purchased. The legislation would also improve cemetery record keeping, something that was not done at Burr Oak.
"Cemeteries would also be required to keep clear records of all burials and entombments and internments and make those records available to fed, state, local authorities," said Rush.
"Many times if there is a problem at cemetery, the funeral home is blamed. So this legislation will take the responsibility away from us," said Spencer Leak, funeral home owner.
"We have been asking for a number of years that families come to the cemetery and pick out the location that they choose for their loved ones," said Willie Carter, cemetery owner.
Congressman Rush believes his bill will prevent another Burr Oak scandal from happening.
According to a report from WGN-TV in Chicago, While Leak and Carter support Congressman Rush's legislation, the Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association does not believe the bill does enough to protect everyone. The association's attorney says while he believes in the bill's goals, the Federal Trade Commission does not have jurisdiction over non-profit and religious cemeteries, which includes 85 percent of all cemeteries in the united states.
Meanwhile, a judge has struck a compromise between the owner of beleaguered Burr Oak Cemetery and the Illinois Attorney General's Office.
Illinois AG Lisa Madigan was fighting Perpetua Holdings for control over the cemetery. The attorney general argued that Perpetua's negligence should preclude it from controlling the historic graveyard. Perpetua gained de facto control of the property again after filing for bankruptcy. Prior to that, the Cook County Sheriff's Office and a court-appoint caretaker were overseeing the cemetery.
in late September, a judge appointed an independent manager, Howard Korenthal, to run the cemetery. Korenthal is a management consultant from the Morris Anderson Company in Chicago with experience in turning around troubled companies.
"What we wanted was the current management to be taken out and what this does is put in an independent chief operating officer to do that," said Paul Gaynor, IL Attorney General's Office.
The judge also decided that Roman Szabelskiwho who was brought in to run Burr Oak Cemetery temporarily, as a court-appointed receiver, should remain as a consultant. Szabelskiwho runs the Catholic Cemeteries in Chicago.
The owner of Burr Oak, Perpetua Holdings, has said it shouldn't be held responsible for the alleged actions of those workers.
When the cemetery will reopen has not been determined. Perpetua will pay for the new independent manager, but he cannot be removed unless the court agrees to do so.
Burr Oak has been closed since July.
(©2009 WLS-TV/DT)
http://www.bereavedconsumersprotectionact.com/?tag=bereaved-consumers-protection-protection-act
