Commission Reopens Public Comment Period On the Cooling Off Rule

The Commission has reopened the public comment period for the review of the “Cooling Off Rule” – formally known as the Trade Regulation Rule Concerning Cooling-Off Period for Sales Made at Homes or at Certain Other Locations – for an additional 60 days, through September 25, 2009.

On April 21, 2009, the FTC issued a Federal Register notice seeking public comments on the effectiveness of the Cooling Off Rule, which requires “door-to-door” salespeople of consumer goods or services with a purchase price of $25 or more to disclose the buyer’s right to cancel within three business days. The Rule requires such sellers, within 10 businesses days of receiving a valid cancellation notice, to honor the buyer’s request by refunding all payments, returning any traded-in property, cancelling and returning any security interests created by the sale, and notifying the buyer whether the seller intends to repossess or abandon any shipped goods.

In the April notice, the FTC stated that the public comment period would end on June 22, 2009. At the request of several organizations, the Commission has reopened the comment period through September 25. Information on how and where to submit comments can be found in a new Federal Register notice on the Commission’s Web site.

The Commission vote approving the extension of the public comment period was 4-0. (FTC File No. P087109; the staff contact is Sana Coleman Chriss, FTC Southeast Region, Atlanta, 404-656-1364; see press release dated April 17, 2009, at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/04/coolingoff.shtm).

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.