Welcome to Northeast Florida's chapter of the national Funeral Consumers Alliance (www.FCANF.org)
Groups identified as "memorial societies" started early in the 1930's in the northwestern United States. From there the idea spread to the cities, mainly under church leadership. The People's Memorial Association of Seattle organized in 1939, was the first such urban group. Similar organizations gradually spread up and down the west coast, then eastward across the United tates and northward into Canada.
By 1963, the societies had become a strong continent-wide movement and Canadian and U.S. societies joined forces into the Continental Association of Funeral and Memorial Societies (CAFMS) and incorporated into a nonprofit organization. In 1996 CAFMS became the Funeral and Memorial Societies of America (FAMSA). Three years later FAMSA moved its incorporated tax-deductible status to 501(c)(3) and shortened its name to Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) with a web presence at www.funerals.org
Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) is endorsed by: United States Office of Consumer Affairs, AARP, The National Council of Churches, AFL-CIO, Dear Abby, Consumers Union, Interfaith Funeral Information Committee (IFIC), and many other national organizations.
About FCA: Funeral Consumers Alliance helped push for the successful enactment of the FTC Funeral Rule in 1982, the first national regulations to curb funeral industry abuses.
The 1982 Funeral Rule in brief:
• You have the right to choose the funeral goods and services you want (with some exceptions).
• If a state or local law requires you to buy any particular good or service, the funeral provider must disclose it on the price list, with a reference to the specific law.
• The funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought elsewhere--or charge you a fee to do that.
• A funeral provider who offers cremations must make alternative containers available.
• You can't be charged for embalming that your family didn't authorize, unless it's required by state law.
NEW in Congress: Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act of 2009 regarding Cemeteries, Crematories, etc.
There have been shocking consumer abuses in the funeral industry, including:
(1) scandals at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, Menorah Gardens Cemetery in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Tri State Crematory in Noble, Georgia;
(2) funeral arrangements are a major expense for most American households and families;
(3) some consumers seek to ease the burdens on their families by arranging and paying for pre-need funeral and cemetery arrangements;
(4) most funerals are planned by grieving family members at a time when they are especially vulnerable and unlikely to focus on cost comparison;
(5) the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Industry Practices Trade Regulation Rule (known as the 1982 Funeral Rule) dictates consumer protections in the funeral home, but does not cover the practices of cemeteries, crematoria, or sellers of monuments, urns, or caskets;
(6) State laws are inconsistent and frequently too weak to provide adequate consumer protections, creating a need for minimum federal standards in this area.
Groups identified as "memorial societies" started early in the 1930's in the northwestern United States. From there the idea spread to the cities, mainly under church leadership. The People's Memorial Association of Seattle organized in 1939, was the first such urban group. Similar organizations gradually spread up and down the west coast, then eastward across the United tates and northward into Canada.
By 1963, the societies had become a strong continent-wide movement and Canadian and U.S. societies joined forces into the Continental Association of Funeral and Memorial Societies (CAFMS) and incorporated into a nonprofit organization. In 1996 CAFMS became the Funeral and Memorial Societies of America (FAMSA). Three years later FAMSA moved its incorporated tax-deductible status to 501(c)(3) and shortened its name to Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) with a web presence at www.funerals.org
Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) is endorsed by: United States Office of Consumer Affairs, AARP, The National Council of Churches, AFL-CIO, Dear Abby, Consumers Union, Interfaith Funeral Information Committee (IFIC), and many other national organizations.
About FCA: Funeral Consumers Alliance helped push for the successful enactment of the FTC Funeral Rule in 1982, the first national regulations to curb funeral industry abuses.
The 1982 Funeral Rule in brief:
• You have the right to choose the funeral goods and services you want (with some exceptions).
• If a state or local law requires you to buy any particular good or service, the funeral provider must disclose it on the price list, with a reference to the specific law.
• The funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought elsewhere--or charge you a fee to do that.
• A funeral provider who offers cremations must make alternative containers available.
• You can't be charged for embalming that your family didn't authorize, unless it's required by state law.
NEW in Congress: Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act of 2009 regarding Cemeteries, Crematories, etc.
There have been shocking consumer abuses in the funeral industry, including:
(1) scandals at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, Menorah Gardens Cemetery in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Tri State Crematory in Noble, Georgia;
(2) funeral arrangements are a major expense for most American households and families;
(3) some consumers seek to ease the burdens on their families by arranging and paying for pre-need funeral and cemetery arrangements;
(4) most funerals are planned by grieving family members at a time when they are especially vulnerable and unlikely to focus on cost comparison;
(5) the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Industry Practices Trade Regulation Rule (known as the 1982 Funeral Rule) dictates consumer protections in the funeral home, but does not cover the practices of cemeteries, crematoria, or sellers of monuments, urns, or caskets;
(6) State laws are inconsistent and frequently too weak to provide adequate consumer protections, creating a need for minimum federal standards in this area.
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P.O. Box 8409, Jacksonville, FL 32239
