S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 633 2013-2014 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E (PREFILED) January 9, 2013 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to creating a forty-eight hour grace period from the due date of a credit card bill THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 2 515-a to read as follows: 3 S 515-A. GRACE PERIOD FOR FEES AND CHARGES. 1. ISSUERS OF CREDIT CARDS 4 SHALL NOT IMPOSE OR MODIFY ANY CHARGES RELATED TO THE ANNUAL PERCENTAGE 5 RATE, FEES FOR ISSUANCE OF AVAILABILITY, MINIMUM FINANCE CHARGES, TRANS- 6 ACTION CHARGES, CASH ADVANCE FEES, RENEWAL FEES, OVER-THE-LIMIT FEES, OR 7 ANY OTHER FEE OR RATE RELATED TO USE OF A CREDIT CARD FOR A PERIOD OF 8 FORTY-EIGHT HOURS FROM THE DUE DATE OF A CREDIT CARD BILL FOR ALL NEW OR 9 RENEWED CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS CREATED ON OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF 10 THIS SECTION. 11 2. (A) EVERY VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE DEEMED A DECEPTIVE ACT 12 AND PRACTICE SUBJECT TO ENFORCEMENT UNDER ARTICLE TWENTY-TWO-A OF THIS 13 CHAPTER. IN EVERY CASE WHERE THE COURT SHALL DETERMINE THAT A VIOLATION 14 OF THIS SECTION HAS OCCURRED, IT MAY IMPOSE A CIVIL PENALTY OF NOT MORE 15 THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR SUCH VIOLATION, AND MAY IMPOSE A CIVIL 16 PENALTY OF NOT MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT 17 VIOLATION. 18 (B) NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO RESTRICT ANY RIGHT 19 WHICH ANY PERSON MAY HAVE UNDER ANY OTHER STATUTE OR THE COMMON LAW. 20 S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 21 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03567-01-3