Hurricane Irene - State of Emergency Declared

Governor Christie has declared a State of Emergency in anticipation of Hurricane Irene hitting New Jersey late Saturday into Sunday.  News reports indicate the storm has tracked west meaning an increased potential for a significant impact on New Jersey.  Governor Christie has requested all individuals evacuate the barrier islands of the Jersey Shore, he stated he will consider mandatory evacuations.  The Governor also stated a website http://www.njready.gov/ is available to help assist individuals with planning for the impact (Note:  loading the site is very slow as many people are likely accessing it).

The State of Emergency declaration triggers the price gouging law (N.J.S.A. 56:8-109).

Specifically, this law makes it an unlawful practice to sell merchandise at what constitutes an excessive price increase during the State of Emergency or within 30 days of the termination of the State of Emergency.  An excessive price increase is defined as:

"Excessive price increase" means a price that is excessive as compared to the price at which the consumer good or service was sold or offered for sale by the seller in the usual course of business immediately prior to the state of emergency.  A price shall be deemed excessive if:

1. The price exceeds by more than 10 percent the price at which the good or service was sold or offered for sale by the seller in the usual course of business immediately prior to the state of emergency, unless the price charged by the seller is attributable to additional costs imposed by the seller's supplier or other costs of providing the good or service during the state of emergency;
2. In those situations where the increase in price is attributable to additional costs imposed by the seller's supplier or additional costs of providing the good or service during the state of emergency, the price represents an increase of more than 10 percent in the amount of markup from cost, compared to the mark up customarily applied by the seller in the usual course of business immediately prior to the state of emergency.

A violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 for the first offense and $20,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.  Each individual sale of merchandise is considered a separate and district event.