First of all, thank you very much for the compliment.  It's nice to hear from someone who appreciates what we are trying to do at The Forum.  In answer to your question, there is a regulation that attempts to interpret the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act with respect to lay away sales.  940 CMR 3.12 describes several acts that constitute unfair and deceptive acts:

(1) To fail to disclose or to misrepresent in any way the store's policy with reference to a "lay away" plan;

(2) To represent to a buyer who is purchasing on a "lay away" plan that the specific goods chosen by the buyer or an exact duplicate of such goods are being laid away for that buyer when such is not a fact;

(3) To fail to disclose to the buyer that the specified goods or their exact duplicate will only be set aside for a certain period of time;

(4) To deliver to the buyer after payments (pursuant to the lay away plan) are completed, goods which are not identical or exact substitutes to those specified, unless prior approval in writing has been received from the buyer;

(5) To increase the price of the goods specified either by way of increasing the payments or substituting goods which are of a lower quantity of price;

(6) To fail to deliver to the buyer, on any date payment is made, a receipt showing the amount of that payment and the date thereof, and, upon request, the balance of payments made up to that date;

(7) To fail to disclose or misrepresent in any way the store's policy with reference to cancellations and repayment or non repayment of payments already made, and in case payments are not refunded, to fail to disclose that fact in writing.

I hope that helps.  For more information about the MA Consumer Protection Act, visit our Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law Discussion Forum.