MCA Chapter 66

in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 75-66-1 Definitions.

“Home solicitation sale” means a consumer credit sale of goods or services in which the seller or person acting for him engages in a personal solicitation of the sale at a residence of the buyer and the buyer’s agreement or offer to purchase is there given to the seller or a person acting for him. It does not include a sale made pursuant to a preexisting revolving charge account, or a preexisting installment account allowing a series of sales, or a sale made pursuant to prior negotiations between the parties at a business establishment at a fixed location where goods or services are offered or exhibited for sale, or where the sale is initiated by the buyer, or where the seller is regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission. Where the first contact has been made by the seller or by someone on behalf of the seller, then any home solicitation sale made following such contact shall not be deemed to have been initiated by the buyer. “Consumer Credit Sale” is a sale of goods or services in which: credit is granted by a person who regularly engages as a seller in credit transactions of the same kind; the buyer is a person other than an organization; the goods or services are purchased primarily for a personal, family or household purpose; and either the debt is payable in installments or a credit service charge is made.

Miss. Code Ann. § 75-66-3 Buyer’s right of cancellation; notice.

Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, in addition to any right otherwise to revoke an offer, cancel a contract or rescind a contract, the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after the day at which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase which complies with this chapter. Cancellation occurs when the buyer gives written notice of cancellation to the seller at the address stated in the agreement or offer to purchase. Notice of cancellation, if given by certified or registered mail, is given when it is deposited in a mailbox properly addressed and postage prepaid. Notice of cancellation given by the buyer need not take a particular form and is sufficient if it indicates by any form of written expression the intention of the buyer not to be bound by the home solicitation sale. The buyer may not cancel a home solicitation sale if the buyer requests the seller to provide goods or services without delay because of an emergency, and the seller in good faith makes a substantial beginning of performance of the contract before the buyer gives notice of cancellation, and in the case of goods, the goods cannot be returned to the seller in substantially as good condition as when received by the buyer.

Miss. Code Ann. § 75-66-5 When buyer’s signature required on agreement or offer to purchase or attached statement; contents of documents; effect of seller’s failure to comply with section.

In a home solicitation sale, unless the buyer requests the seller to provide goods or services without delay in an emergency, the seller must present to the buyer and obtain his signature to a written agreement or offer to purchase or his signature to a statement executed simultaneously with and attached to the written agreement or offer to purchase, which written statement, offer to purchase or attached statement, designates as the date of the transaction the date on which the buyer actually signs and contains a statement of the buyer’s rights which shall comply with either subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section. The statement must: appear under the conspicuous caption: “BUYER’S RIGHT TO CANCEL,” and read as follows: “If this agreement was solicited at your residence and you do not want the goods or services, you may cancel this agreement by mailing a notice to the seller by certified or registered mail. The notice must say that you do not want the goods or services and must be mailed before midnight on the third business day after you sign this agreement. The notice must be mailed to:_______________(insert name and mailing address of seller). If you cancel, the seller may keep all or part of your cash down payment, but in no event may the seller retain an amount in excess of five percent (5%) of the cash price or the amount of the cash down payment whichever is the lesser.” A home solicitation sales contract which contains the notice of cancellation in the form and content required by rule or regulation of the Federal Trade Commission shall comply with the requirements of this section if it contains information to the consumer concerning his right to cancel at least equal to that required by subsection (2). Until the seller has complied with this section, the buyer may cancel the home solicitation sale by notifying the seller in any manner and by any means of his intention to cancel.

Miss. Code Ann. § 75-66-7 Tender to buyer on cancellation or revocation; retention of cancellation fee; rights of buyer on seller’s failure to act.

Except as provided in this chapter, within ten (10) days after a home solicitation sale has been cancelled or an offer to purchase revoked, the seller must tender to the buyer any payments made by the buyer and any note or other evidence of indebtedness. If the down payment includes goods traded in, the goods must be tendered in substantially as good condition as when received by the seller. If the seller fails to tender the goods as provided by this section, the buyer may elect to recover an amount equal to the trade-in allowance stated in the agreement. The seller may retain as a cancellation fee five percent (5%) of the cash price but not exceeding the amount of the cash down payment. If the seller fails to comply with an obligation imposed by this section, or if the buyer avoids the sale on any ground independent of his right to cancel provided by the provisions on the buyer’s right to cancel as provided by Section 75-66-3 (1) of this chapter or revokes his offer to purchase, the seller is not entitled to retain a cancellation fee. Until the seller has complied with the obligations imposed by this section, the buyer may retain possession of goods delivered to him by the seller and has a lien on the goods in his possession or control for any recovery to which he is entitled.

Miss. Code Ann. § 75-66-9 Tender to seller on cancellation or revocation; place; demand; time; buyer’s duty with respect to goods; compensation for services performed.

Except as provided in Section 75-66-7, within a reasonable time after a home solicitation sale has been cancelled or an offer to purchase revoked, the buyer upon demand must tender to the seller any goods delivered by the seller pursuant to the sale, but he is not obligated to tender at any place other than his residence. If the seller fails to demand possession of goods within a reasonable time after cancellation or revocation, the goods become the property of the buyer without obligation to pay for them. For the purpose of this section, forty (40) days is presumed to be a reasonable time. The buyer has a duty to take reasonable care of the goods in his possession before cancellation or revocation and for a reasonable time thereafter, during which time the goods are otherwise at the seller’s risk. If the seller has performed any services pursuant to a home solicitation sale prior to its cancellation, the seller is entitled to no compensation except the cancellation fee provided in this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 75-66-11 Chapter inapplicable to insurance sales or solicitations.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as to apply to the sale or solicitation of insurance.