Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JULIO MARENCO
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits wholesale dealers from price gouging sale of physical goods.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning wholesale dealers and supplementing P.L.1960,
c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. For the purposes of this section:
Physical goods means consumer goods that are used or bought primarily for personal, family, or household purposes including, but not limited to beverages, chattels, foodstuffs, medical supplies, or wares of any type or description.
Price gouging means the practice of unconscionably raising the sale price of physical goods in a manner that is not justified by inflation, abnormal market disruptions, or natural fluctuations in supply and demand.
Wholesale dealers means any business corporation, professional services corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, business trust, association, or any other legal commercial entity organized under the laws of this State that sells physical goods at wholesale solely for the purpose of bona fide resale to retail dealers or to other persons for the purposes of resale only.
b. It shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) for any wholesale dealer to engage in price gouging when selling physical goods.
c. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as shall be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment, except that the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety may take any advance administrative action as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits wholesale dealers from unconscionably raising the sale price of physical goods in a manner that is not justified by inflation, abnormal market disruptions, or natural fluctuations in supply and demand. This practice, often known as and defined in the bill as price gouging, is harmful to small businesses.
A violation of the bills provisions is an unlawful practice under the consumer fraud act, punishable by a monetary penalty of not more than $10,000 for a first offense and not more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense. In addition, violations may result in cease and desist orders issued by the Attorney General, the assessment of punitive damages, and the awarding of treble damages and costs to the injured party.
It is the intent of the sponsor to prohibit price gouging to protect small businesses from being sold physical goods at an unfair price by wholesale dealers.