2023 New York Laws › GBS - General Business › Article 28-A - Cemetery Property and Funeral Services › 454 - Sale of Monuments and Memorials.

§  454.  Sale  of  monuments and memorials. 1. Definitions. As used in
this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Consumer" means any natural person who is solicited  to  purchase
or  who purchases a memorial. The term shall not include a person making
a purchase for resale.
(b) "Memorial" means any monument, headstone, footstone, ledger stone,
marker or plaque designed or intended to be erected or installed  in  or
on  any  cemetery, grave, mausoleum or other appropriate place of burial
or memorialization.
(c) "Seller" means an individual,  firm,  corporation,  not-for-profit
corporation,  religious  corporation,  municipal  corporation, political
subdivision, partnership, association, society or joint  stock  company,
or any agent or employee thereof.
(d)  "Offer for sale" means any contact by a seller with a consumer of
which the subject of the sale of a memorial to a  consumer  is  a  part,
whether  such  contact  be  in  person,  by  telephone,  mail,  or other
electronic  means,  and  regardless  of  whether  or  not  the  consumer
initiates such contact.
(e)  "Sale"  means  the  sale  of  a memorial to or for a consumer for
actual delivery prior to, or subsequent to, a death.
(f) "Foundation" means a  poured  concrete  or  other  permanent  base
intended  to  support the memorial and installed at the gravesite in the
appropriate location.
2. Each sale of a memorial  shall  only  be  evidenced  by  a  written
contract which shall be signed by all the parties to the contract, which
shall  be  dated,  and which shall be completely separate and may not be
included in any other contract, agreement, purchase order,  price  list,
itemization  of  funeral  services  and  merchandise  selected  or  like
document reflecting the purchase by a consumer  of  any  other  real  or
personal  property or service related to the burial, cremation, or other
disposition of the remains of a deceased person. For  purposes  of  this
section,  the  pourer of a foundation shall not be considered the seller
of a foundation. Such separate contract shall be prepared, completed and
maintained in accordance with this  section  for  every  memorial  sale,
including  a  foundation  therefor,  and  shall  be the only contractual
document prepared in connection with such sale. Provided however in  the
case  of  the  sale of a monument or memorial made at the same time as a
preneed  sale  of  funeral  goods  or  services,  a  one  page  document
summarizing  the  transaction shall be given to the consumer in addition
to, but not in lieu of, the separate contract required by this  section.
A full and complete copy of such contract shall be given to the consumer
by  the  seller  at  the time of purchase of such memorial, and shall be
retained by the seller for a period of at least  three  years  from  the
date of sale. Said contract shall contain at least the following:
(a)  the  name,  address  and  telephone  number  of the seller of the
memorial;
(b) the name, address and telephone number of the consumer;
(c) the full name of the individual to be memorialized and, if  known,
the date of such individual's death;
(d)  a  full description of the memorial, including the material to be
provided, the dimensions of the finished memorial, a sketch  or  drawing
of  the  proposed  memorial,  the  wording  of  any  inscription on such
memorial  including  the  approximate  layout  thereof,  the  method  of
engraving of such inscription and the country or state of origin of such
monument or memorial provided by the manufacturer;
(e)  the  approximate  date  when  the  memorial  is  expected  to  be
completed;
(f) the name of the cemetery in which the memorial is  to  be  placed,
together with the location of the plot or grave, if known; and
(g)  a  full  disclosure  of  each  of the following: the price of the
memorial; applicable sales tax, if any; the charge made by the  cemetery
for  the foundation; any charges for additional work, provided that such
additional work is clearly described in the contract  and  such  charges
are  itemized;  the  total  price  as  contracted;  and the schedule for
payment, if any.
3. Whenever there shall be a  violation  of  the  provisions  of  this
section,  an application may be made by the attorney general in the name
of the people of the state of New York to  a  court  or  justice  having
jurisdiction to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of
not  less  than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of the
violation. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the  court  or  the
justice  that the defendant has violated this section, an injunction may
be issued by the court or justice, enjoining and restraining any further
violation, without requiring proof that any person  has,  in  fact  been
injured  or  damaged thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make
allowances to the attorney general  as  provided  in  paragraph  six  of
subdivision  (a)  of  section  eight thousand three hundred three of the
civil practice law and rules and direct restitution. In connection  with
any  such  proposed  application,  the attorney general is authorized to
take proof and make a determination of the relevant facts and  to  issue
subpoenas  in accordance with the civil practice law and rules. Whenever
the court shall determine that a violation of this section has occurred,
the court may impose a civil penalty of up to five hundred  dollars  for
the  first  violation  and  up to one thousand dollars for the second or
subsequent violation within an eighteen month period.
4. The  provisions  of  this  section  shall  not  apply  to  cemetery
corporations  as  defined  and  regulated  by  article  fifteen  of  the
not-for-profit  corporation  law   and   the   regulations   promulgated
thereunder.