(1) Every cemetery, preneed dealer, merchandise dealer, salesperson or person subject to the jurisdiction of the Act shall observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade in the conduct of business.
(2) The Secretary of State may, at his or her discretion, undertake such investigations and take such actions as are authorized by the Act whenever he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the Act has been violated or is about to be violated in any manner including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Hypothecation of trust funds or escrow funds required by the Act to be maintained by a cemetery or preneed dealer;
(b) Disciplinary action taken against any person subject to the provisions of the Act by the appropriate board or agency of any state or territory governing the licensing and administration of cemeteries, cemetery salespersons, merchandise dealer, and any dealers and salesmen of preneed burial merchandise;
(c) The selling of or the offering to sell any cemetery property, burial rights, burial services, or burial merchandise by means of any oral or written untrue statement of material fact or any omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;
(d) The misappropriation, conversion, illegally withholding, or failure to account for any cemetery trust funds, escrow funds, or other funds established or maintained pursuant to the Act;
(e) The willfully making or causing to be made, in any document filed with the Secretary of State or in any proceeding under the Act, any statement which is, at the time it is made and in the light of the circumstances under which it is made, false or misleading in any material respect;
(f) The employment of any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud a purchaser in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of any cemetery property, burial rights, burial services, or burial merchandise, directly or indirectly;
(g) The engaging in any transaction, act, practice, or course of business which operates or has operated as a fraud or deceit upon a purchaser or seller in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of any cemetery property, burial rights, burial services, or burial merchandise, directly or indirectly;
(h) Failing to provide a copy of any contract entered into by any person to such person or to his or her authorized representative; or
(i) Engaging in any act, omission, practice or activity which is otherwise a violation of the Act or these Rules.
(3) In any rule, regulation or written communication, no registrant may refer to the Act or Rules promulgated thereunder unless the Rule or section of the Act referred to is quoted in full.
(4) In any communication with an owner(s) of burial rights, his or her executor, administrator or other legal representative, no registrant or person subject to the jurisdiction of the Act shall make any false, misleading or incomplete statement regarding the provisions of the Act or the Rules promulgated thereunder.
O.C.G.A. Secs. 10-14-14, 44-3-134, 44-3-137, 44-3-139.
