§ 15b — Sales; liability of purchaser for shortage

In the case of a sale of any privately operated cemetery or any part thereof or of any related personal property by a cemetery authority to a purchaser or pursuant to foreclosure proceedings, except the sale of burial rights, services, or merchandise to a person for his or her personal or family burial or interment, the purchaser is liable for any shortages existing before or after the sale in the care funds required to be maintained in a trust pursuant to this Act and shall honor all instruments issued under Section 4 for that cemetery. Any shortages existing in the care funds constitute a prior lien in favor of the trust for the total value of the shortages, and notice of such lien shall be provided in all sales instruments. In the event of a sale or transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the cemetery authority, the sale or transfer of the controlling interest of the corporate stock of the cemetery authority if the cemetery authority is a corporation, or the sale or transfer of the controlling of the partnership if the cemetery authority is a partnership, the cemetery authority shall, at least 21 days prior to the sale or transfer, notify the Comptroller, in writing, of the pending date of sale or transfer so as to permit the Comptroller to audit the books and records of the cemetery authority. The audit must be commenced within 10 business days of the receipt of the notification and completed within the 21 day notification period unless the Comptroller notifies the cemetery authority during that period that there is a basis for determining a deficiency which will require additional time to finalize. The sale or transfer may not be completed by the cemetery authority unless and until: (a) The Comptroller has completed the audit of the cemetery authority's books and records; (b) Any delinquency existing in the care funds has been paid by the cemetery authority, or arrangements satisfactory to the Comptroller have been made by the cemetery authority on the sale or transfer for the payment of any delinquency; (c) The Comptroller issues a new cemetery care license upon application of the newly controlled corporation or partnership, which license must be applied for within 30 days of the anticipated date of the sale or transfer, subject to the payment of any delinquencies, if any, as stated in item (b) above. For purposes of this Section, a person, firm, corporation, partnership, or institution that acquires the cemetery through a real estate foreclosure shall be subject to the provisions of this Section. The sale or transfer of the controlling interest of a cemetery authority to an immediate family member is not subject to the license application process required in item (c) of this Section. In the event of a sale or transfer of any cemetery land, including any portion of cemetery land in which no human remains have been interred, a licensee shall, at least 21 days prior to the sale or transfer, notify the Comptroller, in writing, of the pending sale or transfer.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02 .)