Bill Text: NY S00737 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires debt collectors to inform debtors in each initial communication that written communications are available in large print format.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-10-08 - SIGNED CHAP.461 [S00737 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S00737-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 737--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. BIAGGI, PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring debt collectors to inform debtors that written communications are available in large print format The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 600 of the general business law is amended by 2 adding three new subdivisions 5, 6 and 7 to read as follows: 3 5. "Communication" shall mean the conveying of information regarding a 4 debt directly or indirectly to any person through any medium. 5 6. "Debt" means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to 6 pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, 7 insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are 8 primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not 9 such obligation has been reduced to judgment. 10 7. "Debt collector" means an individual who, as part of his or her 11 job, regularly collects or attempts to collect debts: (a) owed or due or 12 asserted to be owed or due to another; or (b) obtained by, or assigned 13 to, such person, firm or corporation, that are in default when obtained 14 or acquired by such person, firm or corporation. 15 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 601-b 16 to read as follows: 17 § 601-b. Large print notices. 1. Each and every principal creditor or 18 debt collector shall, in each initial communication, clearly and 19 conspicuously disclose to the debtor that each communication can be 20 provided in an alternative, reasonably accommodatable, format. Such 21 disclosure shall substantively contain the following: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02903-02-1S. 737--A 2 1 (a) A statement that the consumer may request the letter in an alter- 2 native, reasonably accommodatable format selected by the principal cred- 3 itor or debt collector such as large print, braille, audio compact disc, 4 or other means; and 5 (b) A business phone number that the consumer may call to make such a 6 request. 7 2. For the purposes of this section, a principal creditor or debt 8 collector providing reasonable accommodation in compliance with the 9 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 shall not be deemed to have 10 violated any provision herein. 11 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 602 of the general business law, as 12 added by chapter 753 of the laws of 1973, is amended to read as follows: 13 1. Except as otherwise provided by law, any person who [shall violate] 14 violates the terms of section six hundred one of this article [shall be] 15 is guilty of a misdemeanor, and each such violation shall be deemed a 16 separate offense. A violation by any person of section six hundred 17 one-a of this article, if such violation constitutes the first such 18 offense by such person, is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed 19 two hundred fifty dollars. The second offense and any offense committed 20 thereafter is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred 21 dollars. 22 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 23 have become a law.