Funeral homes sent warning letters for alleged price transparency violations

WASHINGTON — An undercover government investigation is revealing more than three dozen funeral homes may be violating a requirement to give customers accurate price information upfront.

The Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to provide accurate prices whether a consumer asks for it in-person or over the phone.

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But the Federal Trade Commission said it found that at least 39 funeral homes across the country violated the Funeral Rule when investigators called to try and find out about cost.

“This was an undercover sweep for FTC,” said Rebecca Plett, an attorney in the Division of Marketing Practices in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Staff placed calls to over 250 funeral homes across the country to see if they can get price information, or accurate price information.”

Among the violations, the FTC said some funeral homes failed to give accurate prices over the phone while some others didn’t give price information at all.

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The FTC sent warning letters to the 39 flagged funeral homes.

This comes after we told you last year how the FTC is considering updating the Funeral Rule to add online requirements for price transparency, too.

Those potential changes are not in effect currently.

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We asked the FTC what consumers need to know about their current rights.

“We want to remind people that they can comparison shop for these expensive services,” said Plett. “If you run into a home that doesn’t want to give you price information, our recommendation is find another home that is willing to be transparent with you.”

Funeral homes that don’t comply with the Funeral Rule could face fines around $50,000 per violation, according to the FTC.

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