South Carolina Code 32-7-90. Soliciting and advertising
(1) directly or indirectly call upon individuals or persons in hospitals, rest homes, nursing homes, or similar institutions for the purpose of soliciting preneed funeral contracts or making funeral or final disposition arrangements without first having been specifically requested by the person to do so;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 32-7-90
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. See South Carolina Code 32-7-10
- Preneed funeral contract: means a contract which has for its purpose the furnishing or performance of funeral services or the furnishing or delivery of personal property, merchandise, or services of any nature in connection with the final disposition of a dead human body to be furnished or delivered at a time determinable by the death of the person whose body is to be disposed of, but does not mean the furnishing of a cemetery lot, crypt, niche, mausoleum, grave marker, or monument. See South Carolina Code 32-7-10
- Provider: means a funeral home licensed in this State which is the entity providing services and merchandise pursuant to a preneed funeral contract and is designated trustee of all funds. See South Carolina Code 32-7-10
- Seller: means a licensed funeral director in this State who is directly employed by the provider. See South Carolina Code 32-7-10
(2) directly or indirectly employ an agent, assistant, employee, independent contracting person, or other person to call upon individuals or persons in hospitals, rest homes, nursing homes, or similar institutions for the purpose of soliciting preneed funeral contracts or making funeral or final disposition arrangements without first having been specifically requested by the person to do so;
(3) solicit relatives of persons whose death is apparently pending or whose death has recently occurred for the purpose of providing funeral services, final disposition, burial, or funeral goods for the person;
(4) solicit or accept or pay consideration for recommending or causing a dead human body to be provided funeral services and funeral and burial goods by specific persons, or the services of a specific crematory, mausoleum, or cemetery unless the arrangement is the subject of a preneed funeral contract; or
(5) solicit by telephone call or by visit to a personal residence unless the solicitation has been previously requested by the person solicited or by a family member residing at the residence.
(B) This chapter does not restrict the right of a person lawfully to advertise, to use direct mail, or otherwise communicate in a manner not within the above prohibition of solicitation or to solicit the business of anyone responding to the communication or otherwise initiating discussion of the goods or services being offered.
(C) This chapter does not prohibit general advertising.
(D) A person making a personal or written solicitation for a preneed funeral contract, as soon as possible, shall divulge the real reason for the contract or solicitation.
(E) The department may promulgate regulations for the solicitation of preneed contracts by sellers and providers and their agents and employees to protect the public from solicitation practices that utilize undue influence or that take undue advantage of a person’s ignorance or emotional vulnerability.