Legislation

* § 604-aa. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:

1. "Action" means any civil judicial proceeding as defined in section
one hundred five of the civil practice law and rules.

2. "Adequate documentation of coerced debt" means documentation that
identifies a particular debt, or a portion thereof, as coerced debt,
describes the circumstances under which such coerced debt was incurred,
and takes the form of any of the following:

(a) a police report;

(b) a copy of an official, valid report filed by the debtor with a
federal, state or local law enforcement agency, the filing of which
subjects the person filing the report to criminal penalties relating to
the filing of false information, if, in fact, the information in the
report is false, that identifies a particular debt, or portion thereof,
as a coerced debt;

(c) an order from a court of competent jurisdiction setting forth
findings of coerced debt; or

(d) a written verification, from a qualified third party to whom the
debtor reported the coerced debt while the qualified third party was
acting in their professional capacity, which shall be satisfied by any
sworn or notarized statement including the required information as well
as the name, mailing address, and email address or telephone number, as
applicable, of such qualified third party's employer or, if
self-employed, of such qualified third party.

3. "Coerced debt" means a debt arising out of a transaction primarily
for personal, family or household purposes that was incurred because of
duress, intimidation, threat, force, coercion, manipulation, or undue
influence within the context of intimate relationships or relationships
between family or household members as defined by section four hundred
fifty-nine-a of the social services law, relationships between victims
of human trafficking and traffickers as defined by paragraph (i) of
subdivision (c) of section four hundred eighty-three-bb of the social
services law, relationships between children and their parents or
caretakers as defined in subdivisions (b) and (c) of section one
thousand ninety-two of the family court act, the elderly or individuals
eligible for protective services under subdivision one of section four
hundred seventy-three of the social services law, and their caregivers.

4. "Creditor" means any person, firm, corporation or organization to
whom a debt is owed, due, or asserted to be due or owed, any assignee
for value of said person, firm, corporation or organization, or any debt
collection agency or debt collector as defined by section six hundred of
this chapter; provided, however, that "creditor" shall not include a
person to whom a debt is allegedly owed, due, or asserted to be due or
owed, where the person asserting such claim caused the debt to arise by
engaging in one or more acts of coercion, as identified in subdivision
three of this section, against the debtor.

5. "Debtor" means any natural person who owes or who is asserted to
owe a debt.

6. "Personal information" includes, but is not limited to, a name,
address, telephone or mobile phone number, driver registration number or
non-driver identification card number, social security number, email
address, social media profile or screen name, place of employment,
employee identification number, mother's maiden name, financial services
account number or code, savings account number or code, checking account
number or code, debit or credit card number or code, automated teller
machine number or code, electronic serial number, any personal
identification number or password of a debtor, and a debtor's personal
documents, including, but not limited to, such debtor's driver's license
or non-driver identification card, passport, permanent resident card,
visa, birth certificate, social security card, and any copies thereof or
information contained therein. "Personal identification number or
password", as used in this subdivision, means any number or alphanumeric
code which may be used alone or in conjunction with any other
information to assume the identity of another person or access financial
resources or credit information of another person.

7. "Qualified third party" means any (a) law enforcement officer; (b)
employee of a court of the state, court-appointed special advocate; (c)
attorney, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker,
registered nurse, therapist, or clinical professional counselor licensed
to practice in any state; (d) person employed by or working on behalf of
a government or non-profit office, agency, or service that advises or
provides services to persons regarding domestic violence, family
violence, human trafficking, or abuse of children, the elderly, or
dependent adults; or (e) member of the clergy of a church or religious
society or denomination.

* NB Effective June 17, 2026