There’s no reason why anyone should pay nearly the same amount as a used car to say their final goodbye to their loved one.

A used 2012 Honda Civic is about $10,000 and according to Clarity Funerals, it can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000 and possibly more to say your final goodbyes to your loved ones in California.

The cost takes into account getting a casket, embalming services, and professional fees.

This is unfair to the average American who doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on a funeral with the average median income in California being $75,000.

According to SoFi, a funeral can pile up on other expenses such as taxes, car payments, housing, health care, etc.

This takes a toll on the average American as they have to deal with the grief of losing a loved one on top of managing these insane funeral expenses.

It doesn’t help that funeral homes and services price gouge which is a common practice.

According to CNN, the US government has warned funeral homes to stop misleading bereaved customers about pricing.

The Federal Trade Commission went undercover on a phone sweep and they found out for 38 calls, the agency said the funeral homes either refused to answer questions about pricing or gave inconsistent information about identical services.

Many funeral homes get away with price gouging due to loopholes for example the state of California where it’s a law that requires funeral homes to disclose their prices, either online or in person.

However, according to the Consumer Federation of America, California funeral homes exploit a loophole by only listing a vague overview of services on their websites, forcing consumers to contact them directly to get detailed pricing.

This impacts buyers at their most vulnerable due to the lack of transparency of the funeral can lead to consumers being unaware of the full cost of a funeral service, potentially causing them to pay more than necessary.

For example, the funeral company, Service Corporation International, paid $23 million in a settlement after they deceived customers in the Bay Area with prices and false advertising according to Kron 4.

Along with the $23 million they agreed to a list of things like providing clear disclosures with consumers and providing a full refund upon request to anyone who cancels a pre-need funeral agreement which they should have already been doing.

This is only one of many stories where people have faced horrible financial hardship often due to the fact of unexpected costs, a lack of sufficient insurance, or situations where a pre-paid funeral plan company went bankrupt, leaving them with no funds to cover the funeral expenses.

It’s extremely unfair that we the people who just want to mourn the death of a loved one can’t do it without it being a financial roadblock.

Whether it’s paying thousands of dollars on top of the thousands people already pay to live yearly with the risk that the funeral home will misuse funds.

It’s time to crack down on funeral homes running up prices to people in their most vulnerable state.