Bill Text: NY A08453 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires businesses that make an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer to provide a link on any public website it maintains for cancellation of such service.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to consumer affairs and protection [A08453 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08453-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8453

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    December 29, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Consumer Affairs and Protection

        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to cancellation of
          continuous services

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

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 527-a of the general business law,
     2  as  added  by  chapter  267  of  the laws of 2020, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    2. A business that makes an  automatic  renewal  offer  or  continuous
     5  service  offer  shall  provide  a toll-free telephone number, electronic
     6  mail address, a postal address only when the seller directly  bills  the
     7  consumer,  [or  another]  a link on any public website it maintains, and
     8  any other cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use [mechanism] mechanisms
     9  for cancellation that shall be described in the acknowledgment specified
    10  in paragraph c of subdivision one of this section.
    11    § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of  section  527-a  of  the  general
    12  business  law, as amended by chapter 728 of the laws of 2023, is amended
    13  to read as follows:
    14    a. In addition to the requirements of subdivision two of this section,
    15  a consumer who accepts an automatic renewal or continuous service  offer
    16  [online]  shall be allowed to terminate the automatic renewal or contin-
    17  uous service exclusively online, which may include a  termination  email
    18  formatted  and  provided by the business that a consumer can send to the
    19  business without additional information.   If the consumer  must  return
    20  property  or  equipment  to  the  business, the cancellation may be made
    21  conditional on the return of such property or equipment and the business
    22  shall immediately give,  mail  or  email  written  instructions  to  the
    23  consumer  on  where and how to return such property or equipment without
    24  need for any additional appointments or other requirements. If the busi-
    25  ness must remove its property or equipment from the consumer's  home  or

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13860-01-3
        A. 8453                             2

     1  other  location,  the cancellation shall take effect immediately and the
     2  business shall retrieve such property or equipment  at  its  convenience
     3  within thirty days of the cancellation by the consumer.  Once such prop-
     4  erty  or  equipment,  if  any, is returned to the business, the business
     5  shall immediately issue a receipt to the consumer for the return of such
     6  property or equipment.
     7    § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
     8  have become a law.