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1998/99 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE UJJAL DOSANJH

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR

MULTICULTURALISM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND IMMIGRATION

BILL 61 – 1999

CONSUMER PROTECTION AMENDMENT ACT, 1999

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 1 of the Consumer Protection Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 69, is amended by

repealing the

definitions of "buyer" , "direct sale" and "trade-in

allowance" and substituting the following:

"buyer" means an individual who leases or

purchases goods or services under a contract with a seller, and includes the individual's

agent;

"direct sale" means a contract for the sale of

goods or services, or both, made by a seller

(

a) in the ordinary course of business, and

(

b) at a place other than the seller's permanent place of

business,

but does not include a contract where the sale, offering for sale

or soliciting of orders is made by telephone, mail, fax or any other method that does not

involve face to face contact with the intended purchaser;

"trade-in allowance" means the greater of the

following:

(

a) the sum that, under a trade-in arrangement, is agreed to be

allowed in payment or in part payment for goods or services, or both, sold or to be sold

under an executory contract;

(

b) the fair market value of the trade-in at the time the trade-in

arrangement is made; .

Part 1 is amended by repealing the heading to that Part and substituting the

following:

Part 1 – Direct Sales and Executory Contracts .

Section 10 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) A direct sale that a direct seller, other than a direct seller

referred to in

section 11 (4), solicits, negotiates or concludes at a place other than his

or her business address, is not binding on the buyer unless

(

a) the contract is made in accordance with this section, sections

13 and 14 and the regulations,

(

b) it is signed by the buyer, and the guarantor if applicable,

and

(

c) at the time it is signed under paragraph (b),

(

i) the direct seller advises the buyer, in the prescribed manner,

of the buyer's rights of cancellation under

section 11, and

(ii) the buyer, and the guarantor if applicable, each receive a

copy of it.

Section 11 is repealed and the following substituted:

Buyer's right to cancel direct sales and contracts for future

services

(1) A direct sale is cancelled if the buyer gives notice

of cancellation to the direct seller not later than 10 days after the date that the buyer

receives a copy of the contract.

(2) A direct sale is cancelled if any of the following apply and

the buyer gives notice of cancellation to the direct seller not later than one year after

the date of entering into the contract with the direct seller:

(

a) at the time the contract was made, the direct seller or the

salesperson, if applicable, was not

(

i) licensed as required by

Part 2, or

(ii) in compliance with a condition imposed on his or her licence

under

section 27;

(

b) the contract does not contain the information required under

section 14 or the regulations;

(

c) the goods or services to be supplied under the contract are

not supplied to the buyer within 30 days of the supply date specified in that contract.

(3) If a buyer accepts delivery of goods or supply of services

after the 30 day period described in subsection (2) (

c) has ended, the buyer is not

entitled to cancel the contract under that provision.

(4) If a direct seller only occasionally carries on his or her

business outside of his or her permanent place of business, subsections (1) and (2) do not

apply to a contract that the direct seller or his or her agent or employee solicits,

negotiates or concludes at a place other than the direct seller's permanent place of

business.

(5) In a dispute over the application of subsection (1) or (2),

the onus is on a seller to prove that the seller carries on his or her business only

occasionally outside of his or her permanent place of business.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (3), the Sale of Goods Act

determines whether the buyer has accepted delivery of goods.

(7) Unless otherwise provided by regulation, a buyer may cancel a

contract for future services by giving notice of cancellation to the seller not later than

10 days after the date on which the buyer received the copy of the contract.

(8) A buyer or his or her personal representative may, at any

time, cancel a contract for future services

(

a) if there has been a material change in the circumstances of

the buyer, by giving notice of cancellation to the seller, or

(

b) if there has been a material change in the services provided

by the seller, by giving notice of cancellation to the seller.

(9) For the purposes of

(a) subsection (8) (a), a material change in the circumstances of

the buyer includes, without limitation,

(

i) the buyer's death,

(ii) permanent physical, medical or mental disability of the

buyer, to be substantiated by the provision of a certificate of a medical practitioner

showing that the buyer's continued participation is unreasonable, because of the buyer's

condition, or is likely to endanger the buyer's health, or

(iii) permanent relocation of the buyer so that the buyer and the

seller are more than 30 km further distant from each other than they were when the

executory contract was entered into, if the seller does not provide reasonably comparable

alternative facilities for the use of the buyer not more than 30 km from the buyer's new

location, and

(b) subsection (8) (b), a material change in the services provided

by the seller occurs

(

i) when, for reasons that are wholly or partly the fault of the

seller, the services are not completed or at any time appear unable to be reasonably

completed within the period of time stated by the seller under

section 21,

(ii) when the services are no longer available or substantially

available as provided in the contract because of the seller's discontinuance of operation

or substantial change in operation, or

(iii) when the seller relocates his or her facility so that the

seller and buyer are more than 30 km further distant from each other than they were when

the contract was entered into, and the seller does not provide reasonably comparable

alternative facilities for the use of the buyer, not more than 30 km from the buyer's

location.

(10) In subsection (9) (a) (ii) and (iii), "permanent"

means for the remainder of the executory contract period or for the remainder of the time

stated by the seller under

section 21.

(11) A notice of cancellation under this

section may be given by

any method that permits a person to produce evidence that he or she cancelled the

contract, including

(

a) delivering the notice in person, and

(

b) sending it by registered mail, electronic mail or fax, to

(

i) the seller, or

(ii) the postal address, electronic mail address or fax number

shown in the contract for the person named in the contract as a person to whom notice of

cancellation may be given.

(12) A notice of cancellation under this

section is sufficient if

it indicates, in any way, the intention of the buyer to terminate, cancel or withdraw from

the contract and, in the case of cancellation under subsection (8) (

a) or (b), it states

the reason for cancellation.

(13) For the purposes of this section, a notice of cancellation is

given at the time it is mailed or sent.

5 The following sections are added:

Contract for credit

11.1 If, in relation to a direct sale, credit is extended

or arranged by a direct seller, then

(

a) the credit contract is conditional on the direct sale, and

(

b) if the direct sale is cancelled under

section 11, the credit

contract is cancelled.

Maximum down payments for direct sales

11.2 A direct sale is unenforceable by the direct seller if

the direct seller requires the buyer to make a down payment in excess of the prescribed

amount.

Section 12 is amended

(

a) in subsections (1) and (4) (

a) by striking out "7 days"

and substituting "10 days" ,

(

b) in subsection (2) (b) (ii) by striking out "the address,

electronic mail number or fax number" and substituting "the postal

address, electronic mail address or fax number" , and

(

c) in subsection (4) (

b) by striking out "mailing address"

and substituting "postal address" .

Section 14 (

a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(

a) a notice of the buyer's rights of cancellation, in the

prescribed form and manner, .

8 Sections 16 (1) and 17 are amended by striking out "section 11

(2)" and substituting "section 11 (1) or (2)" .

Section 26 (1) is amended by striking out "using a form required

by regulation." and substituting "using a form required by the

registrar."

10 Sections 48 (4) (

b) and 54 (3) are amended by striking out "mailing

address" and substituting "postal address" .

11 Sections 48 (5) and 54 (4) are amended by adding "postal" before

"address" .

Section 52 is repealed.

Section 75 (1) (

a) is amended

(

a) by striking out "21.2 (1) (b), 21.3 (1) (b), 21.4 (2), 21.5

(1) or (3)," , and

(

b) by striking out "52 (3), (4) or (6)," .

Section 77 is amended

(

a) by repealing subsection (1) (

b) and substituting the following:

(

b) prescribing the form of an executory contract, a direct sales

contract, notice of a buyer's cancellation rights or statement of the cost of borrowing,

and prescribing the size, type and colour of lettering used in any provision of the

contract, notice or statement; ,

(

b) in subsection (1) by adding the following paragraph:

(h.1) providing for issuance by the registrar of a duplicate

licence, or a copy of an application for licence or licence renewal, and prescribing a fee

payable for that duplicate or copy; , and

(

c) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraph:

(e.1) prescribing the amount or method of calculating the amount

of a maximum down payment under

section 11.2; .

Commencement

15 Sections 1 to 14 come into force by regulation of the

Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Consumer Protection Act, amends

section 1]

provides a broader definition of "buyer" for purposes of all types of direct

sales;

simplifies the definition of "direct sale";

amends the definition of "trade-in allowance" to protect trade-in value

when a direct sales contract is cancelled by a buyer under

section 11,

as re-enacted by this Bill.

SECTION 2: [Consumer Protection Act, repeals and replaces the

heading to

Part 1] clarifies the scope of

Part 1 of the Act.

SECTION 3: [Consumer Protection Act, repeals and replaces

section

10 (2)] provides that a direct sales contract is not binding on the buyer if the

contract is not in writing or is not signed, if the buyer does not advise the buyer of his

or her cancellation rights, or if the buyer does not receive a copy.

SECTION 4: [Consumer Protection Act, re-enacts

section 11]

enhances cancellation rights afforded to buyers in relation to direct sales and contracts

for future services, as part of a national harmonization project respecting direct sales

legislation by:

extending the initial cancellation period to 10 days;

affording a one year direct sale cancellation period if the direct seller

is not licensed under the Act, the contract does not contain specified information

or the goods or services are not supplied within 30 days of the supply date

specified in the contract.

SECTION 5: [Consumer Protection Act, enacts sections 11.1 and 11.2]

provides that

if credit is extended or arranged for a direct sale, the credit contract

is conditional on the direct sale and is cancelled if the direct sale is cancelled;

a direct sale is unenforceable if a down payment in excess of a prescribed

amount is required.

SECTION 6: [Consumer Protection Act, amends

section 12] extends

the cancellation period to 10 days for a time share contract and provides parallel

language to that used in

section 11 (11) enacted by this Bill.

SECTION 7: [Consumer Protection Act, repeals and replaces

section

14 (a)] requires written direct sales contracts to contain notice of cancellation

rights in the prescribed form and manner.

SECTION 8: [Consumer Protection Act, amends sections 16 (1) and 17]

changes cross references consequential to the re-enactment of

section 11 by this Bill.

SECTION 9: [Consumer Protection Act, amends

section 26 (1)] allows

the registrar of direct sellers to develop licence application forms.

SECTION 10: [Consumer Protection Act, amends sections 48 (4) (

b) and 54 (3)] provides parallel language to that used in

section 11 (11) enacted by

this Bill.

SECTION 11: [Consumer Protection Act, amends sections 48 (5) and 54

(4)] provides parallel language to that used in

section 11 (11) enacted by this

Bill.

SECTION 12: [Consumer Protection Act, repeals

section 52] repeals

a provision made redundant by provisions of the Tax Rebate Discounting Act (Canada)

dealing with the same subject matter.

SECTION 13: [Consumer Protection Act, amends

section 75 (1) (a)] deletes

a reference to the

section repealed by this Bill and deletes references to sections that

were repealed before they were brought into force.

SECTION 14: [Consumer Protection Act, amends

section 77]

(

a) adds direct sales contracts and notice of buyers' cancellation

rights to the types of documents for which the form and style may be prescribed by

regulation;

(

b) authorizes regulations providing for issuance of duplicate

licences and copies of records, and prescribing fees for them;

(

c) authorizes regulations to prescribe the amount, or the way the

amount is calculated, of a maximum down payment under

section 11.2 as enacted by this

Bill.

Copyright © 1999: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada