§ 559.3904 — Contracts of membership; requirements; notice; effect of noncompliance

Florida § 559.3904

• Jurisdiction: Florida
• Title: XXXIII
• Ch. 559: REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, AND INVESTMENTS, GENERALLY

Text

(1) A copy of a member’s contract, with all blank spaces filled in, shall be delivered to the member at the time the contract is signed.

(2) Every contract shall be in writing, shall be signed by the member, shall designate the date on which the member signed the contract, and shall state, clearly and conspicuously in boldfaced type of a minimum size of 14 points, the following: “MEMBER’S RIGHT TO CANCEL If you wish to cancel this contract, you may cancel by delivering or mailing a written notice to the club. To prove that you canceled, it is recommended that you send the notice by certified mail. The notice shall state that you do not wish to be bound by the contract and shall be delivered or mailed before 12 midnight of the third business day after you sign this contract. The notice shall be delivered or mailed to: (insert name and mailing address of club). If you cancel, the club will return, within 10 days of the date on which you give notice of cancellation, a total refund. It is recommended that you mail the notice of cancellation by certified mail, return receipt requested; check with your post office as to the time when you will be able to mail a certified letter. Be sure to keep a photocopy of the notice of cancellation which you mail.”

(3) No contract shall be valid for a term longer than 24 months from the date upon which the contract is signed. However, a club may allow a member to convert his or her contract into a contract for a period longer than 24 months after the member has been a member of the club for a period of at least 6 months. The duration of the contract shall be clearly and conspicuously disclosed in the contract in boldfaced type of a minimum size of 14 points.

(4) Every contract shall provide that if any goods, except custom manufactured goods, ordered by the member from the buying club, are not delivered to the member or available for pickup by the member at the location where the order was placed within 6 weeks from the date the member placed an order for such goods, then any payment by the member for such goods in advance of delivery shall, upon the member’s request, be fully refunded, unless a predetermined delivery date has been furnished to the member in writing at the time he or she ordered such goods and the goods are delivered to the member or available for pickup by that date. Every contract shall disclose that delivery dates for furniture or custom manufactured goods cannot be predicted, if such is the case.

(5) If a buying club or any of its agents or employees represents orally or in writing that use of its services will result in savings to its members it shall disclose in writing in the contract that all savings claims made by the buying club are based on price comparisons with retailers doing business in the trade area in which the claims are made if the same or comparable items are offered for sale in the trade area and with prices at which the merchandise is actually sold or offered for sale.

(6) Every contract which does not contain the requirements specified in subsections (2)-(5) may be canceled by the member at any time, without liability, by giving notice of cancellation by any means. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require that a member’s cancellation notice be sent by certified mail in order to effect a cancellation.

Legislative History

s. 1, ch. 91-72; s. 814, ch. 97-103.