Bill Text: NY A03245 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires businesses to notify consumers of an upcoming automatic renewal or continuous service charge to the consumer's account forty-five days prior to such charge; requires businesses to include instructions on how to cancel such renewal or charge in the notice to the consumer.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-06-06 - substituted by s5941b [A03245 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A03245-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3245--B
                                                                 Cal. No. 37

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 2, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on  Consumer  Affairs  and  Protection  --  committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee  --  reported from committee, advanced to a third reading, amended
          and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third read-
          ing

        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring busi-
          nesses to notify consumers of an upcoming automatic renewal or contin-
          uous service charge thirty days prior to such charge

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Subdivisions 3 and 8 of section 527-a of the general busi-
     2  ness law, as added by chapter 267 of the laws of 2020,  are  amended  to
     3  read as follows:
     4    3.  a.  In  addition  to  the  requirements of subdivision two of this
     5  section, a consumer who  accepts  an  automatic  renewal  or  continuous
     6  service offer online shall be allowed to terminate the automatic renewal
     7  or continuous service exclusively online[, which may include]. To satis-
     8  fy  the  requirements  of  this subdivision, a business shall either (1)
     9  provide the consumer with  a  model  termination  email  [formatted  and
    10  provided  by the business] that [a] such consumer can send to [the] such
    11  business without additional information to notify such business of  such
    12  consumer's  intent  to  terminate  such  automatic renewal or continuous
    13  service, or (2) send the consumer  an  email  containing  a  link  to  a
    14  website  or  other online service where such consumer can terminate such
    15  automatic renewal or continuous service.
    16    b. A business that allows a consumer to accept an automatic renewal or
    17  continuous service offer for an initial paid term of one year or longer,
    18  provided that such automatic renewal or continuous service renews for  a
    19  paid  term  of  one  month or longer, shall notify such consumer of such
    20  upcoming automatic renewal or continuous service charge to such  consum-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03135-03-3
        A. 3245--B                          2

     1  er's account at least fifteen days before, but not more than thirty days
     2  before,  the  cancellation  deadline  for  such  automatic renewal. Such
     3  notice shall include instructions on how to cancel such renewal charge.
     4    8. The following are exempt from the requirements of this article:
     5    a.  any  service  provided by a business or its affiliate where either
     6  the business or its affiliate is doing business pursuant to a  franchise
     7  issued by a political subdivision of the state;
     8    b.  any  entity,  or subsidiary or affiliate thereof, regulated by the
     9  department of financial services;
    10    c. security system alarm operators;
    11    d. banks, bank holding companies, or the subsidiary  or  affiliate  of
    12  either, or credit unions or other financial institutions, licensed under
    13  state or federal law; and
    14    e. sellers and administrators of a service contract, as defined pursu-
    15  ant to section seven thousand nine hundred two of the insurance law.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.