Rhode Island § 6-28-4 - Door-To-Door Sales

§ 6-28-4. Notices required on agreement and at time of sale — Cancellation — Return of deposit — Damages.

(a) No agreement of the buyer in a door-to-door sale shall be effective unless it is signed and dated by the buyer and unless it contains the following in ten-point (10), bold-face type or larger directly above the space reserved in the agreement for the signature of the buyer:

Notice to buyer: (1) Do not sign this agreement if any of the spaces intended for the agreed terms to the extent of then available information are left blank. (2) You are entitled to a copy of this agreement at the time you sign it. (3) You may at any time pay off the full, unpaid balance due under this agreement and in so doing you may be entitled to receive a partial rebate of the finance and insurance charges. (4) The seller has no right to unlawfully enter your premises or commit any breach of the peace to repossess goods purchased under this agreement. (5) You may cancel this agreement if it has not been signed at the main office or a branch office of the seller, provided you notify the seller at his or her main office or branch office shown in the agreement by registered or certified mail, that shall be posted not later than midnight of the third calendar day after the day on which the buyer signs the agreement, excluding Sunday and any holiday on which regular mail deliveries are not made. See the attached notice of cancellation form for an explanation of buyer’s rights.

(b) The seller may select the method of providing the buyer with the duplicate notice of cancellation, form set forth in subsection (a) of this section, provided, however, that in the event of cancellation the buyer must be able to retain a complete copy of the agreement. Furthermore, if both forms are not attached to the agreement, the seller is required to alter the last sentence in the statement in subsection (a) to conform to the actual location of the forms.

(c) Additionally, the seller shall, at the time of the sale, give notice to the buyer of all the buyer’s rights that substantially comply with this chapter. The notice must:

(1) Appear in the agreement under the conspicuous caption: “Notice of Cancellation”; and

(2) Read as follows:

. . . (date of transaction) “You may cancel this transaction, without any penalty or obligation, within three (3) business days from the above date. If you cancel, your cancellation notice must state that you do not wish to be bound by the agreement and mailed by registered or certified mail not later than midnight three (3) days following the buyer’s signing the agreement, excluding Sunday and any holiday on which regular mail deliveries are not made. All cancellations must be mailed to:

(insert name and address of the seller).”

(d) Whenever the agreement fails to conform to the provisions of this section and the buyer or his or her agent has notified the seller of his or her intent to cancel the agreement by registered mail, return receipt requested, the seller shall, within twenty (20) days, return any deposit made by the buyer. Failure to return any deposit shall enable the buyer to recover from the seller double damages in any subsequent legal proceeding.