senate Bill S3704

Signed By Governor
2019-2020 Legislative Session

Increases the monetary exclusion on the requirement of plain language in consumer contracts

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A2653 - Signed by Governor


  • Introduced
  • In Committee
  • On Floor Calendar
    • Passed Senate
    • Passed Assembly
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed by Governor

Your Voice

do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

view actions (11)
Assembly Actions - Lowercase
Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Oct 11, 2019 signed chap.363
Oct 01, 2019 delivered to governor
Jun 12, 2019 returned to assembly
passed senate
3rd reading cal.699
substituted for s3704
Jun 12, 2019 substituted by a2653a
May 20, 2019 advanced to third reading
May 15, 2019 2nd report cal.
May 14, 2019 1st report cal.699
Feb 13, 2019 referred to judiciary

Co-Sponsors

S3704 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A2653
Law Section:
General Obligations Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §5-702, Gen Ob L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2013-2014: A7777
2015-2016: A1152
2017-2018: A1085

S3704 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases the monetary exclusion on the requirement of plain language in consumer contracts from $100,000 to $250,000.

S3704 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S3704 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3704

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 13, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. KAVANAGH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

AN ACT to amend the general obligations law, in relation to requirements
  for the use of plain language in consumer transactions

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. The closing paragraph of subdivision a of section 5-702 of
the general obligations law, as amended by chapter 484 of  the  laws  of
2018, is amended to read as follows:
  Any  creditor, seller or lessor who fails to comply with this subdivi-
sion shall be liable to a consumer who is a party to a written agreement
governed by this subdivision in an amount equal to  any  actual  damages
sustained plus a penalty of fifty dollars. The total class action penal-
ty  against  any  such  creditor,  seller or lessor shall not exceed ten
thousand dollars in any class action or series of class actions  arising
out  of  the  use  by a creditor, seller or lessor of an agreement which
fails to comply with this subdivision. No action under this  subdivision
may  be brought after both parties to the agreement have fully performed
their obligation under such agreement, nor shall any creditor, seller or
lessor who attempts in good faith to comply  with  this  subdivision  be
liable  for  such  penalties. This subdivision shall not apply to a good
faith attempt to describe the constant yield or other method  of  deter-
mining  the  lease  charge and depreciation portions of each base rental
payment under a lease of personal property. It also shall not  apply  to
agreements  involving amounts in excess of [one] TWO hundred FIFTY thou-
sand dollars nor prohibit the use of words or phrases or forms of agree-
ment required by state or federal  law,  rule  or  regulation  or  by  a
governmental instrumentality.
  § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it  shall have become a law and shall apply to any contract entered into
after such effective date; provided, however, that if chapter 484 of the
laws of 2018 shall not have taken effect on or  before  such  date  then
section  one  of  this act shall take effect on the same date and in the
same manner as such chapter of the laws of 2018 takes effect.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.