Senate File 2349 - Enrolled
PAG LIN
1 1 SENATE FILE 2349
1 2
1 3 AN ACT
1 4 RELATING TO THE PRENEED SALE OF CEMETERY AND FUNERAL
1 5 MERCHANDISE AND FUNERAL SERVICES.
1 6
1 7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 8
1 9 Section 1. Section 523A.102, subsection 27, Code
1 10 Supplement 2007, is amended to read as follows:
1 11 27. "Seller" or "preneed seller" means a person doing
1 12 business within this state, including a person doing business
1 13 within this state who sells insurance, who advertises, sells,
1 14 promotes, or offers to furnish cemetery merchandise, funeral
1 15 merchandise, funeral services, or a combination thereof when
1 16 performance or delivery may be more than one hundred twenty
1 17 days following the initial payment on the account whether the
1 18 transaction is completed or offered in person, through the
1 19 mail, over the telephone, by the internet, or through any
1 20 other means of commerce. "Seller" or "preneed seller"
1 21 includes any person performing any term of a purchase
1 22 agreement executed within this state, and any person
1 23 identified under a burial account as the provider of cemetery
1 24 merchandise, funeral merchandise, funeral services, or a
1 25 combination thereof. "Seller" or "preneed seller" does not
1 26 include a person who has an ownership interest in a seller or
1 27 preneed seller but who is not actively engaged in advertising,
1 28 selling, promoting, or offering to furnish such cemetery
1 29 merchandise, funeral merchandise, funeral services, or a
1 30 combination thereof.
1 31 Sec. 2. Section 523A.203, Code Supplement 2007, is amended
1 32 by adding the following new subsection:
1 33 NEW SUBSECTION. 5A. A financial institution acting as a
1 34 trustee of trust funds under this chapter shall notify each
1 35 purchaser within sixty days from the date of deposit
2 1 confirming that a deposit has been made establishing a trust
2 2 fund for the purchaser's payments made under the purchase
2 3 agreement.
2 4 Sec. 3. Section 523A.203, subsection 6, Code Supplement
2 5 2007, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
2 6 NEW PARAGRAPH. d. Use any funds required to be held in
2 7 trust pursuant to section 523A.201 to purchase an insurance
2 8 policy or annuity.
2 9 Sec. 4. Section 523A.405, subsection 8, Code Supplement
2 10 2007, is amended to read as follows:
2 11 8. The amount of the surety bond shall equal eighty
2 12 percent of the payments received pursuant to purchase
2 13 agreements, or the applicable portion thereof, for cemetery
2 14 merchandise, funeral merchandise, funeral services, or a
2 15 combination thereof, and the amount needed to adjust the
2 16 amount of the surety bond for inflation as set by the
2 17 commissioner based on the consumer price index. The seller
2 18 shall review the amount of the surety bond no less than
2 19 annually and shall increase the bond as necessary to reflect
2 20 additional payments. The amount needed to adjust for
2 21 inflation shall be added annually to the surety bond during
2 22 the first quarter of the establishment's seller's fiscal year.
2 23 Sec. 5. Section 523A.501, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
2 24 Supplement 2007, is amended to read as follows:
2 25 a. The commissioner shall request and obtain,
2 26 notwithstanding section 692.2, subsection 5, criminal history
2 27 data for any director of, or person with a financial interest
2 28 in, a preneed seller who is an applicant for an initial
2 29 license issued pursuant to this section, any an applicant for
2 30 reinstatement of a license issued pursuant to this section, or
2 31 any a licensee who is being monitored as a result of a
2 32 commission order or agreement resolving an administrative
2 33 disciplinary action, for the purpose of evaluating the
2 34 applicant's or licensee's eligibility for licensure or
2 35 suitability for continued practice as a preneed seller, as
3 1 required by the commissioner by rules adopted pursuant to
3 2 chapter 17A. The commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to
3 3 chapter 17A to implement this section may limit this
3 4 requirement to those persons who have the ability to control
3 5 or direct control of trust funds under this chapter. The
3 6 commissioner shall inform the an applicant or licensee of to
3 7 whom the criminal history requirement applies and obtain a
3 8 signed waiver from the applicant or licensee prior to
3 9 submitting a criminal history data request.
3 10 Sec. 6. Section 523A.501, subsection 4, Code Supplement
3 11 2007, is amended to read as follows:
3 12 4. The commissioner shall request and obtain a financial
3 13 history for any director of, or person with a financial
3 14 interest in, a preneed seller who is an applicant for an
3 15 initial license issued pursuant to this section, any an
3 16 applicant for reinstatement of a license issued pursuant to
3 17 this section, or any a licensee who is being monitored as a
3 18 result of a commission order or agreement resolving an
3 19 administrative disciplinary action, for the purpose of
3 20 evaluating the applicant's or licensee's eligibility for
3 21 licensure or suitability for continued practice as a preneed
3 22 seller, as required by the commissioner by rules adopted
3 23 pursuant to chapter 17A. The commissioner may limit this
3 24 requirement to those persons who have the ability to control
3 25 or direct control of trust funds under this chapter.
3 26 "Financial history" means the record of a person's current
3 27 loans, the date of a person's loans, the amount of the loans,
3 28 the person's payment record on the loans, current liens
3 29 against the person's property, and the person's most recent
3 30 financial statement setting forth the assets, liabilities, and
3 31 the net worth of the person.
3 32 Sec. 7. Section 523A.502, subsection 6, Code Supplement
3 33 2007, is amended to read as follows:
3 34 6. A sales agent licensed pursuant to this section shall
3 35 satisfactorily fulfill continuing education requirements for
4 1 the license as prescribed by the commissioner by rule.
4 2 However, this continuing education requirement is not
4 3 applicable to a sales agent who is also a licensed insurance
4 4 producer under chapter 522B or a licensed funeral director
4 5 under chapter 156.
4 6 Sec. 8. Section 523A.601, subsection 6, paragraph a, Code
4 7 Supplement 2007, is amended to read as follows:
4 8 a. A purchase agreement that is funded by a trust shall
4 9 include a conspicuous statement in language substantially
4 10 similar to the following language:
4 11 "For your prearranged funeral agreement, we will deposit
4 12 not less than eighty percent of your payments in trust at
4 13 (name of financial institution), (street address), (city),
4 14 (state) (zip code) within fifteen days following receipt of
4 15 the funds. For your protection, you have the right to contact
4 16 will be notified within sixty days from the date of deposit
4 17 from the financial institution directly, if acting as a
4 18 trustee of trust funds under this chapter, to confirm that the
4 19 deposit of these funds occurred has been made establishing a
4 20 trust fund as required by law. If you unable to confirm the
4 21 deposit of these funds in trust do not receive this
4 22 notification, you may contact the Iowa insurance division for
4 23 assistance by calling the insurance division at (telephone
4 24 number) or by mail at (street address), (city), Iowa (zip
4 25 code), or you may contact the financial institution by calling
4 26 the financial institution at (telephone number) or by mail at
4 27 the address indicated above."
4 28 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION. 523A.810A ELECTRONIC FILING.
4 29 The commissioner shall, by rule, develop a system and
4 30 procedures and a format for electronic filing of documents
4 31 required to be filed with the commissioner under this chapter.
4 32 Sec. 10. Section 523A.811, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code
4 33 Supplement 2007, is amended to read as follows:
4 34 c. The amount of funds currently held in trust for
4 35 cemetery merchandise, funeral merchandise, and funeral
5 1 services is less than eighty percent of all payments made
5 2 under the purchase agreements referred to in the amount
5 3 required in section 523A.201, subsection 2 or 3, as
5 4 applicable.
5 5
5 6
5 7
5 8 JOHN P. KIBBIE
5 9 President of the Senate
5 10
5 11
5 12
5 13 PATRICK J. MURPHY
5 14 Speaker of the House
5 15
5 16 I hereby certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
5 17 is known as Senate File 2349, Eighty=second General Assembly.
5 18
5 19
5 20
5 21 MICHAEL E. MARSHALL
5 22 Secretary of the Senate
5 23 Approved , 2008
5 24
5 25
5 26
5 27 CHESTER J. CULVER
5 28 Governor