§ 66-263.  Bond requirement; prizes and gifts.

(a) At least 10 days before the commencement of any promotion offering any gift or prize with an actual or represented market value of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or more, the telephonic seller shall notify the Secretary in writing of the details of the promotion, fully describing the nature and number of all gifts or prizes and their current market value, the seller's rules and regulations governing the promotion, and the date the gifts or prizes are to be awarded. All gifts or prizes offered shall be awarded. Concurrent with notifying the Secretary under this subsection, the telephonic seller shall post a bond with the Secretary for the market value or the represented value, whichever is greater, of all gifts or prizes represented as available under the promotion. The bond must be issued by a surety company authorized to do business in this State. The bond shall be in favor of the State of North Carolina for the benefit of any person entitled to receive a gift or prize under the promotion who did not receive it within 30 days of the specified date of award. The amount recoverable by any person under the bond shall not exceed the market value, the represented value of the gift or prize, or the amount of any consideration or contribution paid by that person in response to the telephone solicitation, whichever is greatest.

(b) Within 45 days after the specified date of the award of the gift or prize, the seller shall provide, in writing, to the Secretary, proof that the gifts or prizes were awarded. The writing shall include the name, address, and telephone number of all persons receiving awards or prizes. The bond shall be maintained until the Secretary receives reliable proof that the gifts or prizes have been delivered to the intended recipients.

(c) The Attorney General, on behalf of any injured purchaser, or any purchaser who is injured by the bankruptcy of the telephonic seller or its breach of any agreement entered into in its capacity as a telephonic seller, may initiate a civil action to recover against the bond. (1997-482, s. 1.)