From CNN Money
Gift certificate rules burn small business - Sep. 5, 2007
(FSB Magazine) -- With consumers screaming about abuses, more than 30 states have enacted laws banning gift cards and certificates with short expiration periods and requiring issuers to turn over cash from expired cards to the state. Eight states have added such laws in 2007 alone.
Caught on the bad side of good intentions, however, are small businesses that thrive on gift certificates - spas, salons, and restaurants. Fountain of Youth Day Spa in Albuquerque stopped selling certificates when the New Mexico law went into effect in July - even though gifts account for 25% of sales - because it requires certificates to be valid for five years and forces issuers to turn over 60% of the value of expired cards.
Read more about gift certificate cards and small business.