(Washington, DC) - U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.), a Senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today announced legislation to protect American consumers against misleading and unwanted solicitations from entities posing as government agencies, companies sponsoring contests or institutions with which consumers are currently doing business.

The legislation, entitled the Solicitation Disclosure Act, would require companies or individuals who send commercial mailings for financial services products to reveal their true identity and to disclose that their correspondence is an unsolicited commercial offer.

The measure requires that any unsolicited commercial offer mailed to an individual contain on the outside of the envelope “THIS IS AN UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL OFFER FROM’’ followed by the name of the person or the company sending the material.

Unsolicited mailings that involve financial products frequently include loans, insurance, mortgages, debt refinancing, debt cancellation, investment products and other offers of credit.

Ackerman noted that these unsolicited offers often lure Americans into purchasing goods and services by utilizing emblems, seals or designs similar to those used by the government or by tricking consumers into believing they have won a contest. Many of the solicitations are also disguised to be from entities with which consumers are presently doing business.

“Each year, millions of consumers are bombarded with solicitations for financial service products that they do not want and did not request” said Ackerman. “This legislation will outlaw these unfair and aggressive selling methods so that consumers are protected against these deceptive, dubious and harassing business practices.”

The disclosures mandated by Ackerman’s legislation must be in a large, clear and bold typeface on the outside of the envelope. It must also be in a contrasting color, and in a clear and conspicuous location. If a solicitation is mailed without an envelope, the disclosure must be in a clear and conspicuous location at the top of the mailing.

Under Ackerman’s bill, various federal agencies and departments are granted the authority to enforce the labeling of commercial solicitations. The measure also allows state attorney general’s and state agencies to bring civil action against insurance companies that employ these unscrupulous practices. 

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