2002 SESSION

02-3066

05/09

SENATE BILL 345

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

ANALYSIS

This bill makes the misrepresentation of the geographic location of a business a violation of the consumer protection act.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

02-3066

05/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Two

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Paragraph; Regulation of Business Practices for Consumer Protection; Acts Unlawful; Misrepresentation of Geographic Location. Amend RSA 358-A:2 by inserting after paragraph XIII the following new paragraph:

XIV. Misrepresenting the geographic location of the provider or vendor's business by doing either of the following:

(a) Listing a local telephone number in any advertisement or listing if each of the following is satisfied:

(1) Calls to the telephone number are routinely forwarded or otherwise transferred to a provider's or vendor's business location that is different than the geographic location of the business indicated in the advertisement or listing.

(2) The listing does not identify the true physical address, including the city and state, of the provider's or vendor's business.

(b) Listing a fictitious business name or an assumed business name in any advertisement or listing if each of the following is satisfied:

(1) The name misrepresents the provider's or vendor's geographic location.

(2) The listing does not identify the true physical address, including the city and state, of the provider's or vendor's business.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2003.