This list discloses that consumers do not have to purchase a casket if the deceased is to be cremated without a viewing, as well as other important information about legal rights and required purchases. The FTC's rule also makes clear that consumers do not have to buy a package deal. And it requires funeral homes to give consumers itemized lists of the goods and services they've selected, so that they can be sure to pay only for the items they've chosen or that state law requires. In the FTC's latest industry education effort, agency staff sent a detailed guide on how to comply with the rule to more than 18,000 funeral homes, virtually every one in the country. It then embarked on the nationwide enforcement sweeps project.
Copies are available at the address below.
The Commission vote to authorize filing of the Tampa area cases was 5-0. They were filed Jan. 12 by the Department of Justice at the FTC's request in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, in Tampa. These consent decrees are for settlement purposes only and do not constitute admissions by the defendants of law violations. Consent decrees have the force of law when signed by the judge.