Revision: Dec. 22, 2022, 4:37 p.m.
2023 SESSION
23-0460.0
09/10
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to transactions exempt from the regulation of business practices for consumer protection.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill creates a private cause of action for consumers who are harmed under the provisions 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0460.0
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT relative to transactions exempt from the regulation of business practices for consumer protection.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Private Cause of Action. Amend RSA 358-A:3 to read as follows:
358-A:3 [Exempt Transactions; Etc.] Private Cause of Action. The following transactions shall not be exempt from the provisions of this chapter, but shall be enforcable by the consumer :
I. Trade or commerce that is subject to the jurisdiction of the bank commissioner, the director of securities regulation, the insurance commissioner, the public utilities commission, the financial institutions and insurance regulators of other states, or federal banking or securities regulators who possess the authority to regulate unfair or deceptive trade practices. This paragraph includes trade or commerce under the jurisdiction of, and regulated by, the bank commissioner pursuant to RSA 361-A, relative to retail installment sales of motor vehicles.
II. [Repealed.]
III. Trade or commerce of any person who shows that such person has had served upon such person by the Federal Trade Commission a complaint pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 45(b) relating to said trade or commerce until the Federal Trade Commission has either dismissed said complaint, secured an assurance of voluntary compliance, or issued a cease and desist order relating to said complaint pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 45(b).
IV. Publishers, broadcasters, printers, or other persons engaged in the dissemination of information or reproduction of printed or pictorial matter who publish, broadcast, or reproduce material without knowledge of its deceptive character.
IV-a. Transactions entered into more than 3 years prior to the time the plaintiff knew, or reasonably should have known, of the conduct alleged to be in violation of this chapter; provided, however, that this section shall not ban the introduction of evidence of unfair trade practices and deceptive acts prior to the 3-year period in any action under this chapter.
IV-b. Violations of RSA 205-A which have occurred more than 3 years prior to the complaint alleged to be in violation of this chapter.
V. [The burden of proving exemptions from the provisions of this chapter by reason of paragraphs I, II, III, IV and IV-a of this section shall be upon the person claiming the exemption.] Any action by a person as defined in RSA 358-A:1, I, which violates RSA 358-A:2, shall vest a private cause of action in the consumer harmed by the person.
VI. When a consumer alleges a violation of RSA 358-A:2 by an agency or entity identified in this section, the appropriate government agency, as determined by the attorney general, shall issue a "right to sue" letter to the harmed consumer.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.