*D.C. Code § 28--3811* (2006)
§ 28--3811. Home solicitation sales
(a) As used in this section, "home solicitation sale" means a cash sale or a
consumer credit sale of goods, other than
farm equipment, or services in which the seller or a person acting for him
engages in a personal solicitation of the sale at
or near a residence of the buyer and the buyer's agreement or offer to
purchase is there given to a seller or a person acting
for him. It does not include a sale made pursuant to a preexisting revolving
credit account or prior negotiations between
the parties at a business establishment at a fixed location where goods or
services are offered or exhibited for sale.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, in addition to any
right otherwise to revoke an offer, the buyer
has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third
business day after the day on which the buyer
signs an agreement or offer to purchase which complies with this section.
(c) Cancellation occurs when the buyer gives written notice of cancellation
to the seller at the address stated in the
agreement or offer to purchase.
(d) Notice of cancellation, if given by mail, is given when it is deposited
in a mail box properly addressed and the
postage prepaid.
(e) 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.
(f) 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
(1) the seller in good faith makes a substantial beginning of performance of
the contract before the buyer gives
notice of cancellation, and
(2) in the case of goods, the goods cannot be returned to the seller in
substantially as good condition as when
received by the buyer, and
(3) the buyer has signed separately the following notice which appears under
the conspicuous caption: "WAIVER
OF RIGHT TO CANCEL," and reads as follows: "Because of an emergency I waive
any right I may have to cancel this
home solicitation sale".
(g) (1) 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 which
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 complies with paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) The statement must----
D.C. Code § 28-3811
(A) appear under this conspicuous caption: "BUYERS RIGHT TO CANCEL", and
(B) read as follows:
"If this agreement was solicited at or near your residence and you do
not want the goods or services, you may cancel this agreement by mailing a
notice to the seller. The notice must say that you do not want the goods or
services and must be mailed before midnight of the third business day after
you signed this agreement. The notice must be mailed to:
(insert name and address of seller)
If you cancel, the seller may not keep any of your cash down payment."
(3) 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.
(h) (1) Except as provided in this section, within ten days after a home
solicitation sale has been canceled 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. A provision permitting the seller to keep all or any part of
any payment, note, or evidence of indebtedness
is in violation of this section and unenforceable.
(2) 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.
(3) The seller is not entitled to retain a cancellation fee.
(4) 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.
(i) (1) Except as provided by the provisions on retention of goods by the
buyer (subsection (h)(4) of this section),
within a reasonable time after a home solicitation sale has been canceled 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 days is presumed to be a reasonable time.
(2) 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.
(3) If the seller has performed any services pursuant to a home solicitation
sale prior to its cancellation, the seller is
entitled to no compensation.
(j) Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section shall not apply
to a home solicitation sale between a buyer and
a public insurance adjuster, as defined in section 2(5) of the Public
Insurance Adjuster Licensure Act of 2002 [§ 31--
1631.02(5)], passed on 2nd reading on December 3, 2002 (Enrolled version of
Bill 14--476). Section 8 of the Public
Insurance Adjuster Licensure Act of 2002 [§ 31--1631.08], passed on 2nd
reading on December 3, 2002 (Enrolled version
of Bill 14--476) shall apply to all such sales.