An Act
ENROLLED SENATE
BILL NO. 871 By: Floyd of the Senate
and
Blancett and Hefner of the
House
An Act relating to consumer protection; amending 15
O.S. 2021, Section 753, which relates to unlawful
practices; prohibiting misrepresentation as a state
agency or an affiliate; and providing an effective
date.
SUBJECT: Consumer protection
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 15 O.S. 2021, Sec tion 753, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 753. A person engages in a practice which is declared
to be unlawful under the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act when, in
the course of the person's business, the person:
1. Represents, knowingly or with re ason to know, that the
subject of a consumer transaction is of a particular make or brand,
when it is of another;
2. Makes a false or misleading representation, knowingl y or
with reason to know, as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or
certification of the subject of a consum er transaction;
3. Makes a false or misleading representation, knowingly or
with reason to know, a s to affiliation, connection, association
with, or certification by another;
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4. Makes a false or misleading representation or design ation,
knowingly or with reason to know, of the geographic origin of the
subject of a consumer transaction;
5. Makes a false representation, knowingly or with reason to
know, as to the char acteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits,
alterations, or quantiti es of the subject of a c onsumer transaction
or a false representation as to the sponsorship, approval, status,
affiliation or connection of a person therewith;
6. Knowingly or with reason to know, makes a false or
misleading representation or gives the false or misleading
impression of being affiliated with a state agency or an affiliate
of a state agency through advertisement or publicati on;
7. Represents, knowingly or with reason to know, that the
subject of a consumer transaction is original or new if the p erson
knows that it is recondition ed, reclaimed, used, or secondhand;
7. 8. Represents, knowingly or with reason to know, that the
subject of a consumer transaction is of a particular standard, style
or model, if it is of another;
8. 9. Advertises, knowingly o r with reason to know, the subject
of a consumer transaction with intent not to sell it as advertis ed;
9. 10. Advertises, knowingly or with reason to know, th e
subject of a consumer transaction with intent not to supply
reasonably expected public demand, unle ss the advertisement
discloses a limitation of quantity;
10. 11. Advertises under the guise of ob taining sales personnel
when in fact the purpose is to se ll the subject of a consumer
transaction to the sales personnel ap plicants;
11. 12. Makes false or misleadin g statements of fact, knowingly
or with reason to know, concerning the price of the subje ct of a
consumer transaction or the reason for, existence of, or amounts of
price reduction;
12. 13. Employs "bait and switch" advertising, which consists
of an offer to sell the subject of a consumer transaction which the
ENR. S. B. NO. 871 Page 3
seller does not intend to sell, which advertising is accompanied by
one or more of the fol lowing practices:
a. refusal to show the subject of a consumer tra nsaction
advertised,
b. disparagement of the ad vertised subject of a consumer
transaction or the terms of sale,
c. requiring undisclosed tie-in sales or other
undisclosed conditions to be met prior to selling the
advertised subject of a consumer transactio n,
d. refusal to take orders for the subject of a consumer
transaction advertised for delivery within a
reasonable time,
e. showing or demonstrating defective subject of a
consumer transaction which the seller knows is
unusable or impracticable for the pur pose set forth in
the advertisement,
f. accepting a deposit for the subject of a consumer
transaction and subsequently chargi ng the buyer for a
higher priced item, or
g. willful failure to m ake deliveries of the subject of a
consumer transaction within a r easonable time or to
make a refund therefor up on the request of the
purchaser;
13. 14. Conducts a closing out sale without having first
obtained a license as required in the Oklahoma Consumer Protection
Act;
14. 15. Resumes the business for which the clo sing out sale was
conducted within thirty -six (36) months from the expiration date of
the closing out sale license;
15. 16. Falsely states, knowingly or with reason to know, that
services, replacements or repairs are needed;
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16. 17. Violates any provisio n of the Oklahoma Health Spa Act;
17. 18. Violates any provision of the Home Repair Fraud Act;
18. 19. Violates any provision of the Consu mer Disclosure of
Prizes and Gifts Act;
19. 20. Violates any provision of Section 755.1 of this title
or Section 1847a of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statute s;
20. 21. Commits an unfair or deceptive trade practice as
defined in Section 752 of this title;
21. 22. Violates any provision of Section 169.1 of Title 8 of
the Oklahoma Statutes in fraudulently or intentionally failing or
refusing to honor the cont ract to provide certain cemetery s ervices
specified in the contract entered in to pursuant to the Perpet ual
Care Fund Act;
22. 23. Misrepresents a mail solicitation as an invoice or as a
billing statement;
23. 24. Offers to purchase a mineral or royalty interest
through an offer that rese mbles an oil and gas lease and that the
consumer believed was an oil and gas lease;
24. 25. Refuses to honor gift cert ificates, warranties, or any
other merchandise offered by a person in a consumer transaction
executed prior to the closing of the busines s of the person without
providing a purchaser a means of redeeming su ch merchandise or
ensuring the warranties offered will be honored by another person;
25. 26. Knowingly causes a cha rge to be made by any billing
method to a consumer for services which t he person knows was not
authorized in advance by the consumer;
26. 27. Knowingly causes a charge to be made by any bil ling
method to a consumer for a product or products which the pers on
knows was not authorized in a dvance by the consumer;
27. 28. Violates Section 752A of this title;
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28. 29. Makes deceptive use of anothe r's name in notification
or solicitation, as defin ed in Section 752 of this title;
29. 30. Falsely states or implie s that any person, product or
service is recommended or endorsed by a n amed third person;
30. 31. Falsely states that information about the consumer,
including but not limited to, the name, address or phone number of
the consumer has been provided by a th ird person, whether that
person is named or unnamed;
31. 32. Acting as a debt collector, contacts a debt or and
threatens to file a suit against the debtor over a debt barred by
the statute of limitations which has passed for filing suit for such
debt; or
32. 33. Acting as a debt collector, contacts a debtor and uses
obscene or profane language to collect a debt.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
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Passed the Senate the 25th day of May, 2023.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the 26th day of May, 2023.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this _______ _____________
day of _________________ __, 20_______, at _______ o'clo ck _______ M.
By: _______________________________ __
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
day of _________________ __, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this _______ ___
day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _______________________________ __