The FTC sent warning letters to 39 funeral homes on January 25, 2024, after the agency's first-ever undercover phone sweep of 250+ funeral providers in 2023 found that 39 violated the Funeral Rule by refusing to provide price information, providing inconsistent pricing, misrepresenting embalming requirements, or failing to provide compliant General Price Lists; each violation carries potential penalties up to $51,744.

FTC Warning Wave — 39 Funeral Homes / Funeral Rule Phone Sweep (2024)

Outcome: The FTC sent warning letters to 39 funeral homes on January 25, 2024, following the agency's first undercover phone sweep of 250+ funeral providers in 2023; violations included refusing to provide price information, providing inconsistent pricing, misrepresenting embalming legal requirements, and providing non-compliant price lists — each violation subject to civil penalties up to $51,744 per occurrence.

Throughout 2023, FTC personnel from across the country conducted the agency's first-ever undercover telephone sweep, calling more than 250 funeral home providers and posing as consumers seeking price information for funeral services. The FTC Funeral Rule, 16 CFR Part 453, requires funeral providers to give price information to any person who inquires in person or by telephone, and to provide an itemized General Price List (GPL) meeting specific disclosure requirements to any consumer who visits the premises.

Of the 250+ calls, 39 funeral homes were found to have violated the Funeral Rule on the undercover calls. The specific violation categories included: (1) on 38 of the calls, the funeral home either refused to answer questions about pricing or provided inconsistent pricing for identical services; (2) one funeral home misrepresented that local health code required embalming when a certain number of people wished to view the remains — the FTC Funeral Rule prohibits misrepresentation of legal or regulatory embalming requirements; and (3) one funeral home promised to send a compliant General Price List but instead provided a non-compliant package-pricing document.

The FTC's January 25, 2024, warning letters gave the 39 funeral homes notice of their violations and the potential for civil penalties of up to $51,744 per violation if they failed to come into compliance. The undercover sweep methodology — representing the first FTC initiative of its kind in the funeral industry — signals expanded enforcement capacity and an intent to conduct additional sweeps. Funeral home names were not publicly disclosed in the warning letter announcement.

Primary Source: FTC Sends Warning Letters to Funeral Homes After First Undercover Phone Sweep | FTC