FTC Announces Results of Inspection of Canton, Ohio Area Funeral Homes For Compliance with Consumer Protection Laws

The Federal Trade Commission staff today announced the results of a sweep of 12 funeral homes in the Canton, Ohio area to test for compliance with the FTC’s Funeral Rule. The sweep found that only one home appeared to violate the Rule’s price disclosure requirements. The FTC’s East Central Regional Office in Cleveland, Ohio, coordinated the sweep as part of an ongoing nationwide law enforcement program. Commission staff acted as test shoppers, visiting funeral homes to determine whether the homes comply with key provisions of the Funeral Rule – requirements that funeral homes provide consumers with a copy of an itemized general price list and that they show consumers itemized price lists for caskets and outer burial containers in a timely manner. (The Funeral Rule is designed to ensure that consumers making funeral arrangements receive price lists and are informed that they can purchase only the goods and services they want or need.)

Depending on the severity of the violation, funeral homes considered to be in violation of the Funeral Rule may be given an opportunity to resolve possible law violations through means other than formal legal action, which could result in an injunction and civil penalties. Among those alternative means of resolving possible violations, a funeral home may receive a letter notifying the funeral home that it is not in compliance with the Rule and warning that future noncompliance could result in a monetary penalty. In this instance, the funeral home that appeared to be in violation received such a warning letter.

The FTC’s Funeral Rule, promulgated by the Commission in 1984, was revised in 1994. One of the key requirements of the Rule is that funeral homes must give consumers a copy of an
itemized general price list, which they can use to comparison shop, at the beginning of any discussion regarding funeral arrangements, goods, services, or prices. The general price list must contain a number of disclosures and other information – including, for example, that embalming is not necessarily required by law. The FTC’s rule also makes clear that consumers do not have to buy a package funeral, but, instead, may pick and choose the goods and services they want.

A free FTC brochure for consumers, entitled “Funerals: A Consumer Guide,” provides additional information about consumers’ rights and legal requirements when planning funerals. A free FTC handbook entitled “Complying with the Funeral Rule,” provides information to funeral providers on complying with the Rule.

Copies of the news release and consumer brochures are available from the FTC’s Web site at: http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free,1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.