HB 272-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
10/01
HOUSE BILL 272-FN
AN ACT requiring hearing aid dealers to post a surety bond.
SPONSORS: Rep. Emerton, Hills 7; Rep. Emerson, Ches 7; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 5; Rep. Dowling, Rock 5; Rep. Benn, Graf 9
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill requires hearing aid dealers registered with the hearing care board to post a surety bond to pay the cost of repairs when the dealer terminates his or her business.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0108
10/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT requiring hearing aid dealers to post a surety bond.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Hearing Aid Dealers; Reference to Bond Requirement. Amend RSA 137-F:8 to read as follows:
137-F:8 Registration of Hearing Aid Dealers Required. No person shall engage in the business of selling or offering for rent hearing aids unless such person is registered and gives a surety bond in accordance with this chapter and unless the registration of such person is current and valid. This section includes the selling or renting of hearing aids by mail in this state by a person outside the state. Registration certificates shall be renewed annually on or before June 30.
2 Hearing Aid Dealers; Bond Requirement. Amend the section heading of RSA 137-F:9 to read as follows:
137-F:9 Application for Registration; Fees; Bond.
3 New Paragraph; Hearing Aid Dealers; Bond Requirement Added. Amend RSA 137-F:9 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
III. No registration for a hearing aid dealer shall be issued or renewed until the applicant gives to the board a surety bond in any form approved by the board in a sum of not less than $15,000, executed by the applicant and by a surety company authorized to do business in this state. The bond shall be payable to any person aggrieved by the termination of the business of the registered hearing aid dealer in this state for the cost of repairs and maintenance, subject to the approval of the board of the costs. Such person may maintain an action in his or her own name upon the bond in any court having jurisdiction of the amount claimed, provided, however, that the aggregate liability of the surety to all persons shall, in no event, exceed the sum of such bond. Any remedies provided by this paragraph shall not be exclusive of any other remedy which would otherwise exist.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2012.
LBAO
11-0108 12/06/10
HB 272-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring hearing aid dealers to post a surety bond.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Legislative Budget Assistant has determined that this legislation has a total fiscal impact of less than $10,000 in each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2015.