Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 940 CMR - OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL › Title 940 CMR 3.00 - General Regulations › Section 3.01 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in
				940 CMR
				3.00, the following words shall have the following
				meanings:
Act or practice
. An act or practice
				shall include any threat or attempt to perform such act or practice.
Advertisement
,
Advertising
,
Advertise
. Any
				commercial message in any newspaper, magazine, leaflet, flyer, or catalog, on
				radio, television, public address system, or made in person, in direct mail
				literature or other printed material, or any interior or exterior sign or
				display, in any window display, in any point of transaction literature or price
				tag which is delivered or made available to a customer or prospective customer
				in any manner whatsoever.
Agency
. Any governmental unit,
				including, but not limited to, any agency, court, board, department, or
				division, that is charged with enforcing any law.
Bait Advertising
. "Bait Advertising"
				is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product which the advertiser does
				not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from buying the
				advertised product in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price
				or on a basis more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait
				advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying a product
				of the type so advertised.
Books
. For the purposes of these
				rules, the term "book" or "books" as herein used shall be construed as
				embracing all or any books, supplements, yearbooks, pamphlets, magazines,
				looseleaf material, and other printed material, sold, offered for sale or
				distributed, unless the context of the particular rule indicates or implies a
				contrary construction.
Buyer
. "Buyer" includes a lessee or
				renter.
Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure
.
				Without limiting any other provisions of law, disclosures required by these
				regulations shall be of such size or color contrast and so placed as to be
				readily noticeable to purchasers or prospective purchasers reading advertising,
				sales promotional literature, or invoices containing same, or reading any
				representation as to content on the container in which the product is packed,
				or inspecting a product before installation or with a minimum of disassembly
				after installation. A term is conspicuous when it is so written that a person
				against whom it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Language in the body of
				a form is "conspicuous" if it is in larger or contrasting type or color.
Deceptive Warranty
. For the purpose of
				this chapter a "deceptive warranty" is:
(a) A guarantee or warranty that contains an affirmation,
				promise, description, or representation that is either false, fraudulent, or
				that, in the light of all the circumstances, would mislead the consuming
				public; or fails to contain the necessary information to avoid misleading the
				consuming public; or,
(b) A guarantee or warranty created by the use of such terms as
				"guarantee" or "warranty" if the terms and conditions of such guarantee or
				warranty so limit its scope and application as to render the representation
				illusory, as where any costs or charges to the consumer attendant upon such
				work are prohibitive or approach the cost for the repairs absent any warranty
				or guarantee.
Door to Door Transaction
. The sale,
				rental or lease of consumer goods or services with a purchase price of $25 or
				more whether under single or multiple contracts in which the buyer's agreement
				or offer to purchase is induced at a place other than the place of business of
				the seller.
Dwelling Unit
. Any building or
				structure, or any unit therein or part thereof, and all the common areas inside
				and outside such building or structure, occupied or intended for occupancy as a
				residence by one or more individuals; including a mobile home or a lot
				therefor.
Law
. Law shall include, but not be
				limited to, any federal, state, or local statute, rule, regulation, code,
				ordinance or by-law.
Market Emergency
. Any abnormal
				disruption of any market for petroleum products, including but not limited to
				any actual or threatened shortage in the supply of petroleum products or any
				actual or threatened increase in the price of petroleum products, resulting
				from severe weather, convulsion of nature, failure or shortage of electric
				power or other source of energy, strike, civil disorder, act of war, national
				or local emergency or other extraordinary adverse circumstances.
Owner
. Any person who holds title to
				one or more dwelling units in any manner including but not limited to a
				partnership, corporation or trust. For purposes of these regulations the term
				"owner" shall include one who manages, controls, and/or customarily accepts
				rent on behalf of the owner.
Person or Persons
. The term "person"
				or "persons" as used in
				940 CMR
				3.00 includes an association, a corporation, an
				individual, an institution, a natural person, an organization, a partnership,
				and any other legal entity.
Petroleum Product
. This term shall
				include, but shall not be limited to, motor fuels, as defined in M.G.L. c. 94,
				§ 295A, and fuel oil used for heating or cooking purposes, as described in
				M.G.L. c. 94, § 303F.
Petroleum-related Business
. Any
				producer, supplier, wholesaler, distributor or retail seller of any petroleum
				product.
Place of Business
. The main or
				permanent branch office or fixed location for doing business of a seller. A
				booth at a fair or other temporary, stationary or mobile selling point does not
				constitute a place of business for the purposes of M.G.L. c. 93A.
Product
. "Product" includes goods,
				whether tangible or intangible, real, personal, or mixed, services, or
				franchise or distribution systems of any nature whatsoever.
Repairs
. To restore by replacing a
				part or putting together what is damaged or broken and shall include, but are
				not limited to, renovations or improvements of any sort to all or any part of a
				dwelling unit.
Sell
. "Sell" includes lease, rent, or
				barter.
Supplies
. All equipment, materials, or
				labor for repairs, decorations, renovations and improvements of any
				sort.
Rental Agreement
. Any express or
				implied agreement for use and occupancy of a dwelling unit.
Tenancy
. Occupation or use of a
				dwelling unit under a rental agreement.
Tenant
. Any person who inhabits or is
				entitled to inhabit a dwelling unit under a rental agreement.
Warranty/Guarantee
. The terms
				"warranty" or "guarantee" or any term connoting a warranty or guarantee as used
				in
				940 CMR
				3.00 are synonymous. The terms apply also to purported
				warranties and guarantees and to any promise or representation in the nature of
				a warranty or guarantee.
A warranty that the goods shall be merchantable is implied in a
				contract for their sale if the seller is a merchant with respect to goods of
				that kind. The serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the
				premises or elsewhere is a sale. Goods to be merchantable must be at least such
				as pass without objection in the trade under the contract description; and in
				the case of tangible goods, are of fair average quality within the description;
				and are fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used; and run
				within the variations permitted by the agreement, of even kind, quality and
				quantity within each unit and among all units involved; and are adequately
				contained, packaged, and labeled as the agreement may require; and conform to
				the promises or affirmations of fact made on the container or label if
				any.
Where the seller at the time of contracting has reason to know
				any particular purpose for which the goods are required and that the buyer is
				relying on the seller's skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods,
				there is an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for such
				purpose.
An express warranty or any statement in the nature of an
				express warranty or guarantee includes any affirmation of fact or promise made
				by the seller to the buyer which relates to the goods and becomes part of the
				basis of the bargain. Any verbal or written representation, as well as any
				description of the goods, or sample or model of the goods which is made part of
				the basis of the bargain creates an express warranty. It is not necessary to
				the creation of an express warranty that the seller use formal words such as
				"warranty" or "guarantee" or that he have a specific intention to make a
				guarantee.