47-18-113 - Waiver of rights Restrictions on jurisdiction or venue prohibited. - Tennessee Statutes

47-18-113. Waiver of rights Restrictions on jurisdiction or venue prohibited.

(a)  No provision of this part may be limited or waived by contract, agreement, or otherwise, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary; provided, that the provisions of this part shall not alter, amend, or repeal the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code relative to express or implied warranties or the exclusion or modification of such warranties.

(b)  Any provision in any agreement or stipulation, verbal or written, restricting jurisdiction or venue to a forum outside this state or requiring the application of the laws of another state with respect to any claim arising under or relating to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and related acts set forth in this title is void as a matter of public policy. Further, no action of a consumer or other person can alter, amend, obstruct or abolish the right of the attorney general and reporter to proceed to protect the state of Tennessee and consumers or other persons within this state or from other states who are victims of illegal practices of persons located, wholly or in part, in Tennessee's borders.

(c)  (1)  No other right or benefit conferred on consumers by any other provision of this code may be waived or otherwise varied except as provided for in this section.

     (2)  Any waiver of a right or benefit described in this subsection must be knowingly and intelligently made.

     (3)  The competence of the consumer, the consumer's actual knowledge of the rights or benefits being waived, or lack thereof, the manner in which the right or benefit was pointed out to the consumer at the time of the consumer transaction, the nature of the deception or coercion practiced upon the consumer, the nature and extent of the legal advice received by the consumer, and the value of consideration received are relevant to the issue of whether the waiver was knowingly and intelligently made.

     (4)  If the consumer was not specifically informed of the effect of the waiver and did not specifically waive such consumer's rights or benefits at the time of the consumer transaction, the party claiming waiver shall have the burden of establishing that the waiver was knowingly and intelligently made.

[Acts 1977, ch. 438, § 14; 1979, ch. 303, § 1; 1999, ch. 395, § 5.]