Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:4157 Primary Sponsor:Rama Committee Number:26 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Removal, Termination, and Fire Sales Regulation Act Residing Body:House Current Committee:Labor, Commerce and Industry Date Tabled:Apr 14, 1992 Computer Document Number:JIC/5860.HC Introduced Date:Jan 15, 1992 Last History Body:House Last History Date:Apr 14, 1992 Last History Type:Tabled in Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Rama Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN
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4157 House Apr 14, 1992 Tabled in Committee 26
4157 House Jan 15, 1992 Introduced, read first time, 26
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 71 IN TITLE 39, RELATING TO TRADE AND COMMERCE, BY ENACTING THE REMOVAL, TERMINATION, AND FIRE SALES REGULATION ACT OF 1992, SO AS TO REGULATE SPECIAL REMOVAL, TERMINATION, AND FIRE SALES BY BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 39 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 39-71-10. As used in this article:
(1) `Removal sale' includes a sale by a person of a stock of goods, wares, or merchandise under the designation of `lost our lease', `must vacate', `forced out', or a designation signifying cessation of the business by the person only at the sale location.
(2) `Termination sale' includes a sale by a person of a stock of goods, wares, or merchandise under the designation of `closing out', `going out of business', `discontinuing business', `selling out', `retirement sale', or a designation signifying cessation of business by the person at all locations within this State, but a seller may use the words `manufacturer's closeout' where there has been an actual discontinuance by a manufacturer of a model or line of merchandise and where a seller is not otherwise engaged in a removal or termination sale.
Section 39-71-20. (A) A person may not conduct a removal or termination sale at any place, without having first filed with the Department of Consumer Affairs at least three days before the beginning of the sale a complete and detailed inventory, signed by the owner under the penalties of perjury, which includes:
(1) a list of all items to be included in the sale which consists of only the goods, wares, and merchandise actually in the place of business where the sale is to be conducted at the opening of the sale, describing them by name or kind and the quantity of each; and
(2) whether or not previously listed, a listing separately in the same manner of goods, wares, and merchandise to be included in the sale which had been purchased during a sixty-day period immediately before the filing of the inventory;
(B) A sufficient bond payable to the Department of Consumer Affairs in the penal sum of one thousand dollars conditioned upon compliance with this article. A bond given in connection with the sale must be kept by the department until the expiration of three years from the final date of the sale and must then be surrendered. If at the expiration of the three years the department has reason to believe a pending action relates to the bond, it shall retain the bond until final disposition of the action.
Section 39-71-30. A person may not advertise a removal or termination sale unless the sale is for the purpose designated in the advertising of the sale.
Section 39-71-40. A person, in the course of a removal or termination sale, may not offer goods, wares, or merchandise purchased on consignment or not in the usual course of business for resale on bona fide orders without cancellation priveleges, nor may the stock of goods include items purchased for the purpose of selling at the sale or items not listed in the inventory for the sale. An unusual addition to the stock made within sixty days before the filing of the inventory is prima facie evidence that an addition was made in contemplation of the sale and for the purpose of selling at the sale.
Section 39-71-50. A person may not conduct a removal or termination sale if the owner, or partnership or corporation with which he is associated in the business, has conducted a removal sale at the same location within two years before the date of the subsequent sale or has conducted a termination sale at the same location or elsewhere in this State within two years before the date of the subsequent sale.
Section 39-71-60. A person may not conduct a removal sale if means have been established by the owner for continuation of the business at the same location at the conclusion of the sale.
Section 39-71-70. A person may not conduct a termination sale if means have been established by the owner for continuation of the business by the same owner, directly or indirectly, by partnership, corporation, or otherwise under the same name or under a different name, at the same location, or elsewhere in this State.
Section 39-71-80. A person may not conduct a removal or termination sale more than sixty days from the beginning of the sale.
Section 39-71-90. A person may not advertise a removal or termination sale without prominently stating the final date of the sale and that the sale includes no goods other than those listed in the inventory as required by this chapter, and the advertising must be confined to or refer only to the address and place of business specified in the inventory which is to be discontinued.
Section 39-71-100. A person may not make a sale of the goods, wares, and merchandise previously offered in the course of a removal or termination sale except in bulk to a new owner.
Section 39-71-110. Every inventory and all other records required by this chapter to be filed with the Department of Consumer Affairs are a public record for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.
Section 39-71-120. A person may not advertise or offer for sale a stock of goods, wares, or merchandise under the designation of `fire sale', or other designation of similar meaning, indicating the effect or result of fire, water, or smoke, unless the goods, wares, or merchandise for sale have, in fact, been salvaged from a fire, and unless the goods, wares, or merchandise are segregated and identified. No other goods, wares, or merchandise may be included under the designation in advertising, tagging, or labeling.
Section 39-71-130. A person who violates a provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, and each day on which a sale is conducted constitutes a separate offense."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 1992, and applies with respect to sales beginning after June 30, 1992.