Opinion ID: 2575849
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The structure of HRS ch. 481C

Text: The Appellants note that HRS ch. 481C contains two specific exclusions from its protections under circumstances in which the buyer makes initial contactone for emergency repairs and one for repair or maintenance of personal property. See HRS § 481C-1(B)(ii), (iv), supra note 1. The Appellants contend that the circuit court's interpretation of HRS ch. 481C as excluding all buyer-initiated transactions would render these two specific exclusions superfluous, thereby violating the rule of statutory interpretation that requires courts to avoid rendering any provision redundant or superfluous. See, e.g., State v. Mueller, 102 Hawai`i 391, 395, 76 P.3d 943, 947 (2003); State v. Cummings, 101 Hawai`i 139, 145, 63 P.3d 1109, 1115 (2003); Coon v. City & County of Honolulu, 98 Hawai`i 233, 259, 47 P.3d 348, 374 (2002). HRS § 481C-1(1)(A)(i) defines a door-to-door sale as a sale of goods or services solicited in person and signed by the buyer at a place other than the seller's business address shown on the contract. See supra note 1. The following section then lists four exceptions that are not to be considered door-to-door sales under the law, two of which involve buyer-initiated transactions. See HRS § 481C-1(1)(B), supra note 1. Particularly enlightening is the last sentence of HRS § 481C-1(1)(B)(iv), which provides that if the buyer who made initial contact purchases any new goods or services in relation to the repair or maintenance of his or her personal property, the protections of HRS ch. 481C apply. These provisions demonstrate by implication that, if the buyer initiates contact for something other than a bona fide personal emergency or for the purpose of repairing or performing maintenance upon the buyer's personal property, the transaction falls within the definition of a door-to-door sale, and the protections of this act apply. The mere fact that a buyer has made the initial contact does not render HRS ch. 481C automatically inapplicable to a contract negotiated at the buyer's home. As the court in Weatherall reasoned, in addition to protecting homeowners from uninvited high-pressure sales pitches, door-to-door sales laws such as HRS ch. 481C also serve to protect consumers who may find themselves regretting making the initial contact: A second and equally serious pressure arises ... from the fact that the seller may be an intimidating presence once inside the buyer's home. A reluctant buyer can easily walk away from a seller's place of business, but he cannot walk away from his own home, and he may find that the only practical way of getting the seller to leave is to agree to buy whatever the seller is selling. This latter type of pressure may arise regardless of whether or not the buyer invited the seller to call at his residence. 139 Cal.Rptr. at 331. As the Appellants argue, to establish a blanket exclusion for any buyer-initiated transaction would allow vendors to respond to trade show inquiries with high pressure sales techniques at people's homes without fearing the remedies afforded under HRS ch. 481C. Given the focus of the chapter on guarding against vendor coercion during at-home transactions, the proper inquiry must focus on the presence of coercive pressure, rather than on a blanket rule turning on which party initiated contact. If negotiations occur in the home, then the protections of HRS ch. 481C are not automatically suspended merely because the buyer initiated contact with the vendor, so long as the totality of the circumstances establish a true effort to solicit on the part of the vendor.