2009 Iowa Code
Title 13 - Commerce
Subtitle 1 - Insurance and Related Regulation
CHAPTER 516E - MOTOR VEHICLE SERVICE CONTRACTS
516E.10 - PROHIBITED ACTS -- UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES.

        516E.10  PROHIBITED ACTS -- UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE
      PRACTICES.
         1.  Misrepresentations, false advertising, and unfair
      practices.
         a.  Unless licensed as an insurance company, a service company
      shall not use in its name, contracts, or literature, the words
      "insurance", "casualty", "surety", "mutual", or any other words
      descriptive of the insurance, casualty, or surety business or
      deceptively similar to the name or description of any insurance or
      surety corporation, or any other service company.
         b.  A service company shall not, without the written consent
      of the purchaser, knowingly charge a purchaser for duplication of
      coverage or duties required by state or federal law, a warranty
      expressly issued by a manufacturer or seller of a product, or an
      implied warranty enforceable against the lessor, seller, or
      manufacturer of a product.
         c.  A provider, service company, or third-party administrator
      shall not make, permit, or cause a false or misleading statement,
      either oral or written, in connection with the sale, offer to sell,
      or advertisement of a service contract.
         d.  A provider, service company, or third-party administrator
      shall not permit or cause the omission of a material statement in
      connection with the sale, offer to sell, or advertisement of a
      service contract, which under the circumstances should have been made
      in order to make the statement not misleading.
         e.  A provider, service company, or third-party administrator
      shall not make, permit, or cause to be made a false or misleading
      statement, either oral or written, about the benefits or services
      available under the service contract.
         f.  A provider, service company, or third-party administrator
      shall not make, permit, or cause to be made a statement of practice
      which has the effect of creating or maintaining a fraud.
         g.  A provider, service company, or third-party administrator
      shall not make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the
      public, or cause, directly or indirectly, to be made, published,
      disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public in a newspaper,
      magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular,
      pamphlet, letter, or poster, or over a radio or television station,
      or in any other way, an advertisement, announcement, or statement
      containing an assertion, representation, or statement with respect to
      the service contract industry or with respect to a provider, service
      company, or third-party administrator which is untrue, deceptive, or
      misleading.  It is deceptive or misleading to use any combination of
      words, symbols, or physical materials which by their content,
      phraseology, shape, color, or other characteristics are so similar to
      a combination of words, symbols, or physical materials used by a
      manufacturer or of such a nature that the use would tend to mislead a
      person into believing that the solicitation is in some manner
      connected with the manufacturer, unless actually authorized or issued
      by the manufacturer.
         h.  A bank, savings and loan association, credit union,
      insurance company, or other lending institution shall not require the
      purchase of a service contract as a condition of a loan.
         2.  Defamation.  A provider, service company, or third-party
      administrator shall not make, publish, disseminate, or circulate,
      directly or indirectly, or aid, abet, or encourage the making,
      publishing, disseminating, or circulating of an oral or written
      statement or a pamphlet, circular, article, or literature which is
      false or maliciously critical of or derogatory to the financial
      condition of a person, and which is calculated to injure the person.

         3.  Boycott, coercion, and intimidation.  A provider, service
      company, or third-party administrator shall not enter into an
      agreement to commit, or by a concerted action commit, an act of
      boycott, coercion, or intimidation resulting in or tending to result
      in unreasonable restraint of, or monopoly in, the service contract
      industry.
         4.  False statements.  A provider, service company, or
      third-party administrator shall not knowingly file with a supervisory
      or other public official, or knowingly make, publish, disseminate,
      circulate, or deliver to a person, or place before the public, or
      knowingly cause directly or indirectly to be made, published,
      disseminated, circulated, delivered to a person, or placed before the
      public, a false material statement of fact as to the financial
      condition of a person.
         5.  False entries.  A provider, service company, or
      third-party administrator shall not knowingly make a false entry of a
      material fact in a book, report, or statement of a person or
      knowingly fail to make a true entry of a material fact pertaining to
      the business of the person in a book, report, or statement of the
      person.
         6.  Used or rebuilt parts.  A service company shall not repair
      a motor vehicle covered by a service contract with any of the
      following:
         a.  Used parts, unless the service company receives prior
      written authorization by the vehicle owner.
         b.  Rebuilt parts, unless the parts are rebuilt according to
      national standards recognized by the insurance division.
         7.  Marketing.  A provider, service company, or third-party
      administrator shall not market, advertise, offer to sell, or sell a
      service contract by using personal information obtained in violation
      of the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2721 et
      seq.
         8.  Violations of section 714.16.
         a.  A violation of this chapter or rules adopted by the
      commissioner pursuant to this chapter is an unfair practice as
      defined in section 714.16.
         b.  An enforcement agreement between the commissioner and a
      provider, service company, or third-party administrator does not bar
      the attorney general from bringing an action against the provider,
      service company, or third-party administrator under section 714.16 as
      to allegations that a violation of this chapter constitutes a
      violation of section 714.16.  

         90 Acts, ch 1145, §8
         C91, §321I.11
         98 Acts, ch 1189, §5; 2000 Acts, ch 1147, §7, 15
         C2001, §516E.10
         2005 Acts, ch 70, §34; 2006 Acts, ch 1030, §63
         Referred to in § 714H.3