4-276-460 Illegal or false weights and measures.

   No person weighing or measuring any commodity for sale by dry, liquid, lineal or superficial measurement, or by any unit of enumeration used in determining or measuring quantity, or by weight, shall falsify the measure or weight of such commodity by representing the measure or weight of the same to be either more or less than the true measure of weight thereof.

   It shall be unlawful for any person performing services upon any commodity who shall determine the charge for such services according to the measure or weight of the commodity upon which the services are performed, to falsify the measure or weight of the same by representing the measure or weight to be more than the true measure or weight thereof.

   No person shall deliver to the purchaser or prospective purchaser any commodity in quantities or enumeration of less weight or measure than that offered for sale.

   Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than $500.00 for each offense.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 1)

4-276-470 Deceptive practices – Prohibited.

   It shall be a violation of this section for any person:

   (1)   to act, use or employ any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation, or to conceal, suppress or omit any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale, for cash or on credit, or advertisement of any merchandise, whether or not any person has in fact been misled; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall apply to the owner or publisher of newspapers, magazines, publications or printed matter wherein such advertisement appears, or to the owner or operator of a radio or television station which disseminates such advertisement when the owner, publisher or operator has no knowledge of the intent, design or purpose of the advertiser; and provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall apply to any advertisement which is subject to and complies with the rules and regulations of, and the statutes administered by, the Federal Trade Commission;

   (2)   to represent that merchandise is new, if it is deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, used or secondhand;

   (3)   to represent that merchandise or services are of a particular standard, grade or quality, or to represent that merchandise is of a particular style or model, if it is not;

   (4)   to fail to deliver ordered merchandise within a period of 60 days from the date of order or contract, unless otherwise provided therein, unless the customer is notified in writing of the reason for the delay and such merchandise is delivered in less than a total of 90 days, or a refund is offered within 90 days of the date of the order or contract;

   (5)   to make false or misleading statements of fact concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amounts of price reductions, or engaging in any other pricing conduct causing confusion or misunderstanding;

   (6)   to represent that merchandise or services are those of another, when in fact they are not;

   (7)   to cause confusion or misunderstanding concerning the source, sponsorship, approval or certification of merchandise or services;

   (8)   to cause confusion or misunderstanding or false or deceptive representation concerning affiliation, connection or association with, or certification by, another;

   (9)   to represent that merchandise or services have sponsorship approval concerning the source of or certification of merchandise or services when in fact they do not have such approval or sponsorship;

   (10)   to fail to state a material fact, if such failure tends to deceive or mislead;

   (11)   to advertise for sale at a stated price any items when sufficient quantities of said advertised items are not readily available to be sold to purchasers at the advertised price during the effective period of the advertisement for sale. For the purposes of this subsection, "readily available" shall mean available to the customer in an area of the store normally used to display this type of merchandise, except in a case where the space available for the items is limited, a sample of the items may be placed in a prominent location, accompanied by a prominent, written notice clearly stating that the items are in stock and may be obtained upon request and "sufficient quantities" shall mean available in quantities sufficient to meet reasonably expected customer demand through medium response;

   (12)   to charge a higher amount of tax than the legal rate set forth by laws and regulations existing at the time of sale;

   (13)   to sell or offer for sale outdated:

      (a)   perishable food and over-the-counter medications; or

      (b)   shelf-stable products, unless such shelf-stable products are both physically separated from merchandise that is not outdated and clearly designated as outdated;

   (14)   to sell or offer for sale, or keeping with intention of selling, infant formula that is outdated. Outdated formula shall be considered unsafe and unwholesome for human food; or

   (15)   to sell merchandise that has been recalled for any reason by the United States Food and Drug Administration, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, or any other governmental or regulatory body.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-14-18, p. 90308, Art. V, § 5)

4-276-480 Deceptive practices – Penalty.

   Any person violating any of the provisions of Section 4-276-470 shall be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $2,000.00 for each offense. Any violation of any of the provisions of Section 4-276-470, in addition to any fine provided for herein, may be grounds for revocation of any license issued by the City of Chicago to any such violator; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to preclude the revocation of any license for violation of any other provision of the Municipal Code of Chicago. Each violation of this section shall be considered a separate and distinct offense and shall be regarded as being committed on each day on which such person shall continue or permit any such violation.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 12-14-05, p. 66648, §1; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 1)

4-276-490 Labeling lead-based or heavy-metal- based paints.

   Effective July 1, 1972, no person shall sell, or hold for sale, any lead-based coatings or toxic heavy-metal- based coatings, unless said lead-based or toxic heavy- metal-based coating is in a secure container bearing a label on its principal display panel on which appear the following statements:

      WARNING CONTAINS................................
      DRIED FILM OF THIS SUBSTANCE MAY BE HARMFUL IF EATEN OR CHEWED.
      Read Carefully Cautions on Instruction Panel.

   The following cautionary statement (or its practical equivalent) shall be placed on the label, but need not be part of the warning statement on the principal display panel:

      KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.
      Do not apply on toys and other children's articles, furniture, or interior surfaces of any dwelling or facility which may be occupied or used by children.

   The blank space in the warning label which follows the word "contains" shall be filled with either the word "Lead" and/or toxic heavy metal substance which is present in the amount specified in the definitions contained in Section 4-276-005 of this Code.

   The statements on labels required under the provisions of this section shall be made in conformance with the following requirements:

   (a)   The statements shall be presented in such a manner as to be generally parallel to the declaration of identity and to the base on which the package rests as it is designed to be displayed and shall be separated from other wording or designs.

   (b)   The word "WARNING" shall be in capital letters and of a size not less than 18-point type, and the warning statements set forth above shall be in capital letters and of a size not less than 12-point type.

   (c)   In a case where the size of the container is too small to accommodate a label of sufficient size to allow the use of the type size set forth herein, a reduced size of type which is consistent with other printing on the panel involved may be used, but in no case shall the size be less than 10-point type unless an exemption has been granted under Section 3(c) of the Federal Hazardous Substance Act and Section 191.63 of the regulations under the Federal Hazardous Substance Labeling Act.

   Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00 for each offense.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-10-19, p. 100029, Art. II, § 54)

4-276-500 Reserved.

Editor's note – Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 2, repealed § 4-276-500, which pertained to definitions of terms found in §§ 4-276-510 through 4-276-630.

4-276-510 Price marking and display.

   (a)   It shall be unlawful for any person to display for sale any merchandise unless the selling price is accurately stated in a clear and conspicuous manner. On any prepackaged merchandise, except those sold through vending machines, the selling price shall be marked directly on the package.

      On any merchandise which is not prepackaged, the selling price shall be stated on a sign contiguous to the point of display of the merchandise so priced; provided, that when any merchandise is not prepackaged and is sold out-of-doors, the selling price numerals shall be not less than three inches in height and one and one-half inches in width and any fractional numerals shall be not less than one-half the height and width of the whole numerals.

      The commissioner is hereby authorized to permit the use of alternative price notification procedures which may be of benefit to the citizens of the city of Chicago and consumers. The commissioner may, in conjunction with such alternative procedures, exempt classes of persons from the individual pricing requirements of this section and shall, in such event, adopt rules and regulations consistent with the objectives of this section to ensure accurate notice to consumers of the actual selling price of merchandise. Such regulations shall ensure that:

         1.   The selling price of merchandise is stated in a clear and conspicuous manner at the location where each such commodity is displayed for sale.

         2.   Each sale shall be documented by a receipt given to each purchaser which shall contain a record of the merchandise purchased and the selling price of each such merchandise.

         3.   The savings realized by reason of not requiring each individual prepackaged merchandise to be price-marked shall be passed on to the consumer.

      No person shall be deemed to comply with such regulations unless the person has received a certificate from the commissioner of business affairs and consumer protection stating that the person complies with the regulations. Application for such certificate shall be made in writing on a form prescribed by the commissioner. No certificate shall be issued under this section unless the department of business affairs and consumer protection conducts, and the applicant for the certificate passes, a certification inspection verifying that the applicant is in compliance with the regulations. If the applicant for the certificate passes the certification inspection, the certificate shall be issued upon payment by the applicant of the applicable certification fee identified in subsection (b) of this section. If the applicant for the certificate fails to pass the certification inspection, no certificate shall be issued under this section unless the applicant (i) requests and passes a reinspection by the department verifying that the applicant is in compliance with the regulations; and (ii) pays all required certification and reinspection fees.

   (b)   The commissioner is authorized to and shall assess a certification fee for any certificate issued under this section, and a reinspection fee for any reinspection conducted under this section. If a large store, as the term "large store" is defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner, is inspected under this section, the certification fee shall be $500.00 for the first store location and $100.00 for each additional location, and the reinspection fee shall be $100.00. If a small store, as the term "small store" is defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner, is inspected under this section, the certification fee shall be $250.00 for the first store location and $50.00 for each additional location, and the reinspection fee shall be $50.00.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 5-12-99, p. 2225; Amend Coun. J. 12-14-05, p. 66648, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. V, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 1)

4-276-520 Sales – Statement of duration.

   It shall be unlawful for any person to advertise a "sale" or other temporary change in prices unless the duration of the sale or other temporary change in terms of time is disclosed by stating the number of days or termination date. Provided, however, that where a termination date has been advertised in good faith, the date may be extended.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465)

4-276-530 Reference price – Disclosure.

   It shall be unlawful for any person to advertise a reference price unless the reference price is disclosed in a clear and conspicuous manner or can be readily ascertained by disclosure of the dollar, fraction or percentage reduction in prices.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465)

4-276-540 Reference price – Based on sale of identical article.

   It shall be unlawful for any person to advertise a reference price based on sales of the identical article unless the reference price is the actual price at which the article was offered to the public by the advertiser or by principal competing persons in the advertiser's trade area for a reasonably substantial period of time in the recent regular course of business, honestly and in good faith as determined by regulations adopted by the commissioner.

(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. V, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-11, p. 113698, § 1)