HOUSE BILL No. 5562


     December 21, 2001, Introduced by Reps. Woodward, Gieleghem, Wojno, Spade, Garza, Dennis, Switalski, Jacobs and Hale and referred to the
Committee on Commerce.


        A bill to amend 1976 PA 449, entitled

   "An act to regulate the pricing of consumer items and the adver-
   tising of consumer items, services, goods, merchandise, commodi-
   ties, and real property; to prescribe the powers and duties of
   certain state and local officials in relation thereto; to provide
   remedies and penalties; and to repeal certain acts and parts of
   acts,"

   by amending sections 10 and 10a (MCL 445.360 and 445.360a),

   section 10 as amended and section 10a as added by 1984 PA 344.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

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           Sec. 10.  (1) Whether or not a person seeks damages or has

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      an adequate remedy at law, a person may bring an action to do

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      either or both of the following if the attorney general or prose-

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      cuting attorney fails to initiate action within 60 days after

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      receiving notice of an alleged violation of this act:

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           (a) Obtain a declaratory judgment that a practice is in

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      violation of this act.



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           (b) Enjoin by temporary or permanent injunction a person who

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      is engaging or is about to engage in a practice in violation of

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      this act.

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           (2) Except as provided in section 10a, a person who suffers

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      loss as a result of a violation of this act may bring an individ-

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      ual or a class action to recover actual damages or  $250.00

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      $500.00, whichever is greater, for each day on which violations

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      of this act have been found together with reasonable  attorneys'

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      ATTORNEY fees not to exceed  $300.00  $600.00 in an individual

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      action.

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           Sec. 10a.  (1) Except as provided in subsection (3), this

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      section applies to a sale at retail  which  THAT meets all of the

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      following conditions:

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           (a) There is a price stamped on or affixed to the item.

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           (b) The sale is recorded by an automatic checkout system.

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           (c) The buyer is given a receipt  which  THAT describes the

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      item and states the price charged for the item.

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           (2) Before bringing or joining in an action as provided in

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      section 10(2), within 30 days after purchasing an item, a buyer

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      who suffers loss because the price charged for the item is more

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      than the price stamped on or affixed to the item shall notify the

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      seller in person or in writing that the price charged is more

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      than the price stamped or affixed.  The notice shall include evi-

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      dence of the loss suffered by the buyer.  If, within 2 days after

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      the notification, the seller tenders to the buyer an amount equal

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      to the difference between the price stamped or affixed and the

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      price charged, plus an amount THAT IS equal to  10  20 times that



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      difference but  which  THAT is not less than  $1.00  $5.00 or

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      more than  $5.00  $10.00, the buyer is barred from any further

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      recovery for that loss.  If the loss is suffered by 1 buyer

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      within 1 transaction on 2 or more identical items, the amount  to

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      be tendered by the seller shall be  the SELLER MUST TENDER TO BAR

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      THE BUYER FROM FURTHER RECOVERY IS THE difference on each item,

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      plus an amount THAT IS equal to  10  20 times the difference on a

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      single item but  which  THAT is not less than  $1.00  $5.00
   and

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      not more than  $5.00  $10.00.  If the seller does not tender this

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      amount, the buyer may bring or join in an action as provided in

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      section 10(2).

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           (3) This section does not apply to a sale at retail in which

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      the seller intentionally charges more for an item than the price

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      stamped on or affixed to the item.





























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