Help Pass The Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act|Your Funeral Guy

Tomorrow the Bereaved consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009 comes up for a hearing, before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. There will be a vote to move the legislation to a full house vote.

This legislation (HR 3655)will be good for the Funeral Consumer and the Funeral Industry as a whole. The legislation is known as the Rush Bill or Funeral Rule 2.

Today.you can call and file a complaint with the FTC  about a Funeral Home. As of today You cannot file a complaint against a cemetery, or certain third party funeral and cemetery providers. Last July I received a call from a governmental authority investigating the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal. I had to tell the attorney on the line that there was essentially no effective State Regulation and No Federal Regulation that  Existed for the tragedy at Burr Oak Cemetery outside of Chicago.

Contact Congress today, stop these tragedies and let there be a place (The Federal Trade Commission) where Folks can File a Complaint if they have a problem with a grave or cemetery!

PASS HR.3655-LET THERE BE NO MORE BURR OAK CEMETERY SCANDALS.

Phone the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee “to SUPPORT H.R. 3655.”

(202) 225-2927

Phone your  friends, colleagues and  co workers and ask them to immediately call the  phone number listed above to FULLY SUPPORT  H.R. 3655.

Phone your Congressman and tell him/her to contact the Energy & Commerce Committee to express SUPPORT and stop opposition to H.R. 3655.

The new LAW would call on the FTC (FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION)to setup rules requiring all cemetery, crematory and mausoleum owners to provide clear  disclosures and pricing information about their funeral, cemetery products and services, including preneed contracts, memorials, graves , grave and vaults.

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

New Lawsuit In Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal|YourFuneral Guy

There is a new lawsuit in the Burr Oak  Cemetery tragedy. It was Filed in Cook County circuit Court on Monday, April 26th 2010. The lady involved had multiple relatives remains desecrated.

The Burr Oak cemetery Scandal was exposed in July 2009. At the cemetery, 300 graves were desecrated and bones were piled up at various locations around the cemetery, in a horrifying scene.

New National Funeral and Cemetery legislation is making it’s way through Congress as a direct Response to this scandal. The legislation is called the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

Burr Oak Cemetery was sued today by a woman who says her relatives’ remains were knowingly desecrated in order to resell their burial plots.

Nellie Riley’s attorney filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that the remains of her deceased mother, father, three brothers and sister were destroyed by cemetery staff. Hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were dug up to resell the plots for $300,000, the complaint says.

via www.chicagobreakingnews.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Funeral Industry Websites ignoring New National Industry Legislation-YourFuneralGuy

ConnectingDirectors.com did not do a story this past week on Funeral and Cemetery Legislative reform.

Several Funeral Industry Websites are ignoring the Funeral and Cemetery Reform hearing that took place in Congress this past week. Connecting Directors.com did not do a story or even post a news article.   FuneralWire.com has no article on the current story,only a mention of the NFDA support letter of 11/13/09. The Bereaved Consumers Bill of rights Act

Now to ignore the biggest story on the  Funeral and Cemetery Reform legislation since the revision of the Funeral rule(law) in 1992 is flat out bias. Even Financial trading companies are reporting on the hearings-research.scottrade.com

Congressman Bobby Rush held hearings last Wednesday on Funeral and Cemetery reform- This Legislation  will help the Funeral Consumer.

Funeral Industry| Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

March on Burr Oak Cemetery|Sunday, 9.20.09-Your Funeral Guy

A march on Burr Oak Cemetery occurred on Sunday, 9.20.09.

This was in response to the keys of the cemetery being turned over to the negligent owners Perpetua, Inc.  It  appeared that they had control of the cemetery even after the march on Sunday. With the help of  Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan Perpetua Inc control of the Cemetery will be limited.

Snippet from the Sun Times-

“The company Perpetua had regained control of the cemetery last week under federal bankruptcy laws after it filed for Chapter 11 protection. That move sent court-appointed receiver Roman Szabelski packing.

But under a deal approved today by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Pamela S. Hollis, Szabelski will be retained as a consultant and an independent chief operating officer will be brought it.”

Funeral Industry| funeral blog by R Brian Burkhardt, your funeral guy, Illinois and Virginia Funeral Director.

Burr Oak Cemrtery Scandal: Proposed legislation Comment -yourfuneralguy

Subcommittee returns to DC to write Federal Cemetery Legislation

A  United States House of Representatives Subcommittee is about to propose Federal Cemetery legislation. This is in reaction to the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal. The comments here by MarsellusM710 are his opinions and not those of Your Funeral Guy.

“Dear Funeral Guy and Funeral Service Colleagues,

When will it all stop???  The idiotic actions and the lack of integrity of those involved with the infamous catastrophes in funeral service is simply unforgivable. Tri-State Crematory, NPS, IFDA, the organ/tissue ordeal, SCI’s Cemetery problems, and God only knows how many others and now Burr Oak.  What were they thinking???

And every time there is a reported wrongdoing issue in funeral service or cemetery care the consumer advocacy groups rear their ugly heads and scream for new or more regulation, When in fact there is more than likely regs on the books that already cover the violations and wrongdoings but are not enforced.

Regulators need to get off their duffs and out of the office buildings and be more visible in the field.  In one instance, a field auditor for the Illinois Office of the Comptroller, was doing his or her job, but the boss (Hynes) wasn’t listening or didn’t want to listen, and you see what that got IFDA Trust into.  When regulators, local, state or federal, don’t or won’t do their jobs and lets take it on down to the managerial level, you can almost bet fraud, deceit and greed will raise their ugly heads.

The deeds done at Burr Oak Cemetery has the gruesome makings for an ungodly horror movie.
The Black Community, an entity of people who truly value the traditional funeral, done a dirty deed by a group within the “community” itself.  Crime truly knows no color or economic background.  Those involved with this will not survive prison.  The Black Community will not stand for this to go “unpunished”, even behind prison walls.

Respectfully submitted,
MarsellusM710″

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

“From the Chicago Tribune”

Stirred by the emotional testimony of the living victims of the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal, congressional leaders left Chicago on Monday intending to push for legislation for federal oversight of the cemetery industry.

Burr oak cemetery pic from religion dispatches.org