Bill Text: NY A07770 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Provides for regulating immigration bail businesses including restrictions on who may operate such a business; provides for who may bring an action against an immigration bail business.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 31-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-03 - substituted by s7475b [A07770 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A07770-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7770--B

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 21, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN, TAYLOR, QUART, SEAWRIGHT, KELLES, GONZA-
          LEZ-ROJAS,  CRUZ,  FORREST,  GOTTFRIED, SIMON, REYES, BURGOS, JACKSON,
          MEEKS, STECK,  TAPIA,  RAMOS,  FERNANDEZ,  AUBRY,  GIBBS,  SOLAGES  --
          Multi-Sponsored  by  -- M. of A. COOK -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Insurance -- committee discharged, bill amended,  ordered
          reprinted  as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted
          to the Committee on Insurance in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec.
          2 -- reported and referred to the  Committee  on  Codes  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend the insurance law, in relation to an immigration bail
          business

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

     1    Section  1.  The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 1123
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 1123. Immigration bail business. (a)(1)  Any  person,  firm,  corpo-
     4  ration,  or other entity who shall for another deposit money or property
     5  as bail or execute as surety any  bond  in  any  immigration  action  or
     6  proceeding  who  within  a  period of one month prior thereto shall have
     7  made such a deposit or given such bail in more than two cases not  aris-
     8  ing  out  of  the  same transaction shall be deemed to be doing an immi-
     9  gration bail business as defined in this section and doing an  insurance
    10  business as defined in this article.
    11    (2)  Except  for a corporation authorized to write fidelity and surety
    12  insurance and to  do  an  immigration  bail  business  pursuant  to  the
    13  provisions  of  this  article and otherwise in compliance with all other
    14  requirements of this chapter to  do  such  business,  no  person,  firm,
    15  corporation,  or  other entity shall engage in an immigration bail busi-
    16  ness in this state.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09647-05-2
        A. 7770--B                          2

     1    (b) (1) No person, firm, corporation, or other entity  shall  in  this
     2  state  do  an  insurance  business  or  an  immigration bail business as
     3  defined in subsection (a) of this section unless authorized by a license
     4  issued and in force as provided under this article.
     5    (2)  The  superintendent  may  authorize a property/casualty insurance
     6  company that is authorized to write fidelity and surety insurance to  do
     7  an  immigration  bail business in accordance with the provisions of this
     8  article, but no individual or entity shall be licensed to do such  busi-
     9  ness.
    10    (c)  Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that violates this
    11  section shall be subject to the penalty set forth in subsection  (a)  of
    12  section one thousand one hundred two of this article.
    13    (d) Any person who has been injured by reason of any violation of this
    14  section may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such unlaw-
    15  ful  act  or  practice,  an  action  to recover treble his or her actual
    16  damages, or both such actions. The court shall award  reasonable  attor-
    17  ney's fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.
    18    §  2.    The  insurance law is amended by adding a new section 2140 to
    19  read as follows:
    20    § 2140. Restrictions  on  insurance  producers  procuring  immigration
    21  bonds.  (a) No insurance producer shall require the use of an electronic
    22  monitoring device as a condition of immigration bail. For  the  purposes
    23  of  this  section, an "electronic monitoring device" includes any device
    24  that tracks or monitors location, any device  that  tracks  or  monitors
    25  biometric  data,  or any device that records or transmits video or audio
    26  surveillance data.
    27    (b) No insurance producer shall make a referral to or provide  contact
    28  information for a legal services provider without:
    29    (1)  disclosing  in writing, in a language understood by the consumer,
    30  whether the insurance producer or an entity that is an affiliate of  the
    31  insurance  producer:  (A)  has  a financial or ownership interest in the
    32  legal services provider;  (B)  is  receiving  any  compensation,  either
    33  directly  or  indirectly,  for making a referral to or providing contact
    34  information for the legal services provider;  or  (C)  is  compensating,
    35  either directly or indirectly, the legal services provider for the legal
    36  services rendered; and
    37    (2)  stating  that: "The payment of premiums to the insurance producer
    38  is not for and does not guarantee that you will receive legal  represen-
    39  tation.    Using  this  legal  services provider is not a requirement of
    40  bail. If you choose to hire this legal services provider, you  have  the
    41  right to fire the provider at any time and retain your own counsel."
    42    (c) Any person who has been injured by reason of any violation of this
    43  section may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such unlaw-
    44  ful  act  or  practice,  an  action  to recover treble his or her actual
    45  damages, or both such actions. The court shall award  reasonable  attor-
    46  ney's fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.
    47    § 3. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 2312 to read
    48  as follows:
    49    §  2312. Immigration bond premium. (a) The premium for giving an immi-
    50  gration bond or depositing money or property as immigration bail in  any
    51  court  having  immigration  jurisdiction or in any immigration action or
    52  proceeding shall not exceed ten per centum of the amount of such bond or
    53  deposit in actions where such bonds or deposits do not exceed the sum of
    54  three thousand dollars.  Where such bonds or deposits exceed the sum  of
    55  three  thousand  dollars, the premium shall not exceed ten per centum of
    56  the first three thousand dollars and eight  per  centum  of  the  excess
        A. 7770--B                          3

     1  amount  over  three  thousand dollars up to ten thousand dollars and six
     2  per centum of the excess amount over ten thousand dollars.
     3    (b) No person, firm, corporation, or other entity, including an insur-
     4  ance producer, shall:
     5    (1)  charge,  collect,  or receive, directly or indirectly, any fee or
     6  compensation in connection with an immigration  bail  deposit  or  immi-
     7  gration bond, other than the premium based on rates subject to the maxi-
     8  mum  specified  in  subsection  (a)  of  this section and filed with the
     9  superintendent by the insurer pursuant to this article,  notwithstanding
    10  subsection  (c)  of  section  two  thousand one hundred nineteen of this
    11  chapter; or
    12    (2) accept any fee or compensation for  obtaining  a  license  or  for
    13  obtaining  an  insurance  producer  or  immigration bond or for an immi-
    14  gration bail deposit.
    15    (c) Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that violates  this
    16  section  shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.  An indemnitor may maintain a
    17  cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction against any person,
    18  firm, corporation, or other entity to recover any fee or compensation in
    19  excess of the amount authorized pursuant to this  section.  The  person,
    20  firm,  corporation,  or  other entity shall, in any action brought by an
    21  indemnitor to recover any such overcharge, be liable for treble damages.
    22    (d) Any person who has been injured by reason of any violation of this
    23  section may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such unlaw-
    24  ful act or practice, an action to  recover  treble  his  or  her  actual
    25  damages,  or  both such actions. The court shall award reasonable attor-
    26  ney's fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.
    27    §  4.  Severability  clause.  If  any  clause,  sentence,   paragraph,
    28  subsection,  section  or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court
    29  of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
    30  impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall  be  confined  in
    31  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subsection, section or
    32  part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment
    33  shall  have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the
    34  legislature that this act would have been enacted even if  such  invalid
    35  provisions had not been included herein.
    36    §  5.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    37  have become a law.    Effective  immediately,  the  addition,  amendment
    38  and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
    39  of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to be made and
    40  completed on or before such effective date.