Pennsylvania Governor Signs Law Allowing Ticket Resale

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell late Friday signed into law a bill that allows anyone to legally resell event tickets online. The new law became effective immediately.

The Keystone State joins Connecticut and New York as the most recent states to legalize ticket scalping, but requires resellers have a presence in the state.

Under the state’s old law, only licensed brokers could resell tickets, and then for a maximum of 25 percent about face value. The new law removes the cap and requires that the reseller guarantee a full refund if the event is cancelled or the ticket is not valid upon entry. . .

Prior to Rendell, a Democrat, signing the bill, the State Senate unanimously approved the measure, which had been sponsored by Republican State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson. In speaking in favor of the bill before the Senate, Republican State Sen. Ted Erickson said the move was long overdue.

“Pennsylvania must make a change that a number of other states have already made,” he said.

Unlike Connecticut, New York, Minnesota or other states that have recently approved the resale of tickets, Pennsylvania’s law is a bit trickier by requiring resellers have a presence in the state: “A reseller that uses [an] Internet website shall not be required to obtain a license to resell through the Internet website if the operator of the Internet website: Has a business presence and physical street address in this Commonwealth and clearly and conspicuously posts that address on the Internet website, or has a business presence in this Commonwealth and one of the following: a registered agent, a foreign business license or a certificate of authority issued by the Department of State.”

Essentially, this will mean that StubHub, Ticketmaster or other sites would have to set up shop somewhere in the state, a relatively easy proposition.

The bill also requires the reseller to issue a refund if the ticket is incorrectly described at the point of purchase.