SB 456 Text

Introduced Version Senate Bill 456 History

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sb456 intr Senate Bill No. 456
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced march 4, 2005; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §46A-6-102 and §46A-6-106 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to cure offers; providing definitions; requiring notice of violation prior to initiation of law suits; tolling of statute of limitation during sixty-day period for consideration of cure offer proposal; and limiting recovery to attorney's fees.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §46A-6-102 and §46A-6-106 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. GENERAL CONSUMER PROTECTION.
§46A-6-102. Definitions.
When used in this article the following words, terms and phrases, and any variations thereof required by the context, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this article, except where the context indicates a different meaning:
(a) "Advertisement" means the publication, dissemination or circulation of any matter, oral or written, including labeling, which tends to induce, directly or indirectly, any person to enter into any obligation, sign any contract, or acquire any title or interest in any goods or services and includes every word device to disguise any form of business solicitation by using such terms as "renewal", "invoice", "bill", "statement" or "reminder", to create an impression of existing obligation when there is none, or other language to mislead any person in relation to any sought-after commercial transaction.
(b) "Consumer" means a natural person to whom a sale or lease is made in a consumer transaction, and a "consumer transaction" means a sale or lease to a natural person or persons for a personal, family, household or agricultural purpose.
(c) "Cure offer" means a written offer of one or more things of value, including but not limited to the payment of money, that is made by a merchant or seller and that is delivered by certified mail to a consumer claiming to have suffered a loss as a result of a consumer transaction or to the attorney for such person. A cure offer shall be reasonably calculated to remedy a loss claimed by the consumer.
~~(c)~~ (d) "Merchantable" means, in addition to the qualities prescribed in section three hundred fourteen, article two, chapter forty-six of this code, that the goods conform in all material respects to applicable state and federal statutes and regulations establishing standards of quality and safety of goods and, in the case of goods with mechanical, electrical or thermal components, that the goods are in good working order and will operate properly in normal usage for a reasonable period of time.
~~(d)~~ (e) "Sale" includes any sale, offer for sale or attempt to sell any goods for cash or credit or any services or offer for services for cash or credit.
~~(e)~~ (f) "Trade" or "commerce" means the advertising, offering for sale, sale or distribution of any goods or services and shall include any trade or commerce, directly or indirectly, affecting the people of this state.
~~(f)~~ (g) "Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices" means and includes, but is not limited to, any one or more of the following:
(1) Passing off goods or services as those of another;
(2) Causing likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval or certification of goods or services;
(3) Causing likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding as to affiliation, connection or association with, or certification by another;
(4) Using deceptive representations or designations of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
(5) Representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits or quantities that they do not have, or that a person has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation or connection that he does not have;
(6) Representing that goods are original or new if they are deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, used or secondhand;
(7) Representing that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality or grade, or that goods are of a particular style or model, if they are of another;
(8) Disparaging the goods, services or business of another by false or misleading representation of fact;
(9) Advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised;
(10) Advertising goods or services with intent not to supply reasonably expectable public demand, unless the advertisement discloses a limitation of quantity;
(11) Making false or misleading statements of fact concerning the reasons for, existence of or amounts of price reductions;
(12) Engaging in any other conduct which similarly creates a likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding;
(13) The act, use or employment by any person of any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any goods or services, whether or not any person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged thereby;
(14) Advertising, printing, displaying, publishing, distributing or broadcasting, or causing to be advertised, printed, displayed, published, distributed or broadcast in any manner, any statement or representation with regard to the sale of goods or the extension of consumer credit including the rates, terms or conditions for the sale of such goods or the extension of such credit, which is false, misleading, or deceptive, or which omits to state material information which is necessary to make the statements therein not false, misleading or deceptive;
(15) Representing that any person has won a prize, one of a group of prizes or any other thing of value, if receipt of the prize or thing of value is contingent upon any payment of a service charge, mailing charge, handling charge or any other similar charge by the person or upon mandatory attendance by the person at a promotion or sales presentation at the seller's place of business or any other location: Provided, That a person may be offered one item or the choice of several items conditioned on the person listening to a sales promotion or entering a consumer transaction if the true retail value and an accurate description of the item or items are clearly and conspicuously disclosed along with the person's obligations upon accepting the item or items; such description and disclosure shall be typewritten or printed in at least eight point regular type, in upper or lower case, where appropriate; or
(16) Violating any provision or requirement of article six-b of this chapter.
~~(g)~~(h) "Warranty" means express and implied warranties described and defined in sections three hundred thirteen, three hundred fourteen and three hundred fifteen, article two, chapter forty-six of this code and expressions or actions of a merchant which assure the consumer that the goods have described qualities or will perform in a described manner.

§46A-6-106. Actions by consumers.

~~(1)~~(a) Any person who purchases or leases goods or services and thereby suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the use or employment by another person of a method, act or practice prohibited or declared to be unlawful by the provisions of this article, may bring an action in the circuit court of the county in which the seller or lessor resides or has his principal place of business or is doing business, or as provided for in sections one and two, article one, chapter fifty-six of this code, to recover actual damages or two hundred dollars, whichever is greater. The court may, in its discretion, provide such equitable relief as it deems necessary or proper.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, no action may be brought pursuant to the provisions of this section until the consumer has informed the seller or lessor in writing and by certified mail of the alleged violation and provided the seller or lessor twenty days from receipt of the notice of violation to make a cure offer: Provided further, That the consumer shall have ten days from receipt of the cure offer to accept the cure offer or it is deemed refused and withdrawn.
(c) If a cure offer is accepted, the seller or lessor shall have ten days to begin effectuating the agreed upon cure and such must be completed within a reasonable time.
(d) Any applicable statute of limitations shall be tolled for the twenty-day period set forth in subsection (b) of this section or for the period of time the effectuation of the cure offer is being performed, whichever is longer.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a consumer that has accepted a cure offer from bringing a civil action against a seller or lessor for failing to timely effect such cure offer.
~~(2)~~(f) Any permanent injunction, judgment or order of the court under section one hundred eight, article seven of this chapter for a violation of section one hundred four of this article shall be prima facie evidence in an action brought ~~under this section one hundred six~~ pursuant to the provisions of this section that the respondent used or employed a method, act or practice declared unlawful by said section one hundred four of this article.
(g) Where an action is brought pursuant to the provisions of this section, it shall be an affirmative defense that a cure offer was made, accepted and the agreed upon cure was performed. If the finder of fact determines that the cure offer was accepted and the agreed upon cure performed, the seller or lessor shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs attendant to defending the action.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a requirement that consumers provide notice of alleged violations of article six of chapter forty-six-a to a seller or lessor before bringing an action under the provisions of this section. It also creates a right to cure for the lessor or seller, tolls the statute of limitations until any such cure has been performed, and allows for the recovery of attorney's fees by lessors and sellers in certain instances.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.