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B. Improving Business
Practices
Cleaning Rental Clothing (Chapter
64 of the Laws of 2005, Morelle)
This new law requires rented clothing to be cleaned prior to
re-rental. Most consumers assume that rental clothing is cleaned
prior to being rented. This law will ensure that consumers’
expectation for hygienic rental practices are met. Customers who
are paying for the rental of clothing will now know that such
item has been properly cleaned and cared for before it is available
for rent.
Internet Drug Pricing (Chapter 293 of the Laws
of 2005, Gottfried)
As prescription drug prices continue to rise, many New Yorkers who
carry little or no drug insurance coverage are increasingly faced with
tough choices. An April 2005 survey of prescription drug prices
conducted by the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)
found substantial price differences in pharmacies located in the same
community. The study revealed that consumers on Long Island, for
example, could pay nearly $80 more than the lowest available price
for the antidepressant Wellbutrin and consumers in Queens could pay
nearly $30 more for the sleep aid Ambien.
This new law will make drug price information more accessible by requiring
the Department of Health to establish and maintain a database on
its website enabling consumers to compare the retail drug prices
of pharmacies. The website will contain the one hundred and fifty
most prescribed drugs and be searchable by zip code and other
factors. This new law will allow consumers to comparison shop
from home or their local library, providing easier access to drug
prices and increasing consumers’ ability to save on prescription
drugs.
Dial-up Internet Service Warning (Chapter 334 of the
Laws of 2005, Rivera, P.)
This purpose of this new law is to inform consumers that some
dial-up internet access numbers may result in long distance
charges. Many consumers do not realize that numbers in their
geographic region or area code are not necessarily "local"
numbers for purposes of the charges made by the phone company.
Such consumers often select numbers that appear to be "local,"
but actually involve toll charges.
This new law will require dial-up internet service providers to
post a conspicuous warning on every screen page where dial-up
access numbers appear, alerting users that some numbers may not
be included in their local calling plans and could greatly impact
their telephone bills.
Credit Card Protection Disclosure (Chapter 433 of the
Laws of 2005, Pheffer)
For a small monthly fee, many consumers feel extra credit card
protection is a good deal. Unfortunately, many credit card
protection services do not provide more meaningful protection
than is currently found in federal law. For example, under the
Fair Credit Billing Act, credit card holders are only liable for
up to fifty dollars in unauthorized charges, and some credit
card companies will even waive this fee.
This new law will allow consumers to make an informed decision
prior to entering into any credit card protection service
agreement. This law requires any written solicitation offering
credit card protection services to include a disclosure regarding
the consumer's rights that already exist free of charge under
the Fair Credit Billing Act. This new law will also prohibit
the automatic renewal of credit card protection services and
require written solicitations to disclose that the purchase of
such services is not required to secure or retain a credit
card.
Farm Equipment Lemon Law (Chapter 662 of the Laws of
2005, Magee)
Modern agricultural operations often require the purchase of
expensive, highly-specialized farm equipment. This equipment
represents a sizeable investment for many farmers, and its
dependable operation is often crucial to the success of
day-to-day farming operations.
This new law will protect farmers from the costs associated
with defective farm equipment by requiring suppliers of such
equipment to provide a one-year express warranty covering all
material defects on new farm equipment costing over $1500. The
law also provides important protections for purchasers during
the express warranty period, including requiring suppliers and
dealers to commence repairs within a reasonable timeframe,
requiring suppliers and dealers to provide consumers with a
replacement or refund in certain instances and establishing
a dispute-resolution program administered by the Attorney
General.
Rebate Protections (Chapter 574 of the
Laws of 2005, Pheffer)
While some rebates offer consumers significant savings,
businesses offering rebates often count on consumers not
claiming them, never send the rebate check or funds, or send
them months after receiving a request for redemption. In
addition, some businesses employ potentially deceptive or unfair
business practices that seek to deprive qualifying consumers of
rebates by requiring multiple correspondences between the
consumer and processor or through purposefully complex redemption
requirements.
This new law will simplify and expedite the redemption of
rebates by requiring businesses offering rebates to provide the
rebate application form directly with the product or at the time
and location of purchase and allow a minimum of fourteen days
for the consumer to submit a request for redemption. The law
will also ensure that properly requested rebates are received
in a timely manner, by requiring businesses to mail rebate
checks or transmit the rebate funds to the consumer within
sixty days.
Prohibiting Unfair Billing Practices (Chapter
Number Pending, Pheffer)
The purpose of this law is to prohibit creditors from charging
an additional rate or fee based solely on the consumer’s
choice of payment method.
This law will, subject to federal law and regulation, prohibit
creditors from charging consumers an additional rate or fee, or
a differential in any rate or fee, for selecting a payment
option requiring the use of mail, paper billing or an electronic
transaction involving the internet or telephone. The bill would
also authorize enforcement of the prohibition by the Attorney
General and provide for a civil penalty of up to two hundred and
fifty dollars for each violation.
Rental Vehicle Fuel Charges (Veto Memo 7,
Lafayette)
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit price gouging by rental
car companies for gasoline used by renters.
This bill would cap the amount, per gallon, that rental car
companies may charge renters to refill rental cars. The cap
would be set at five percent (5%) above the average retail price
for the same motor fuel graded product sold at self-service
pumps in the region, as recorded by the Energy Information
Administration of the United State Department of Energy. This
bill would exempt from its provisions rental car companies that
disclose their fuel charge policies to renters.
Magazine Renewal Disclosure (Veto Memo 48,
Pheffer)
The purpose of this bill is to reduce the occurrence of
unnecessary and superfluous renewals. Magazine subscribers are
constantly bombarded with renewal notices, regardless of how may
issues remain as part of their current subscriptions. Very
often, these notices lead consumers to believe that their
subscription will run out soon, causing an interruption of
service. Many consumers do not read the fine print and renew,
resulting in months and even years of unwanted pre-paid
issues.
This bill would require magazine publishers to provide
subscribers with enhanced disclosure of the month and year in
which their subscription expires in any written renewal
invitation. This bill was vetoed by the Governor over concerns
that, in some instances, it fails to provide consumers with a
convenient means of accessing their subscription status, by
allowing publishers to refer subscribers to a customer service
website and toll-free number for such information. The Committee
intends to consider a revised version of this bill next year
that will address the Governor’s concerns.
Ensuring Fairness in the Rental Car Industry
(A.446, Gantt)
The purpose of this bill is to prevent rental car agencies from
discriminating against drivers who do not present a credit card.
Current law prohibits agencies from requiring the primary driver
of a rental vehicle to own a credit card , but this protection
does not extend to non-primary drivers. Some agencies are now
requiring all designated drivers to own a credit card.
This bill would prohibit rental car agencies from preventing any
person from operating a rental vehicle solely on the requirement
of ownership of a credit card. (Passed Assembly)
Free Estimates in Writing (A.511,
Greene)
This bill would prohibit the advertising or offering of free
estimates unless the estimate is in writing and there is no
charge for providing such estimate. Unscrupulous merchants
sometimes offer "free estimates." After providing the
offered estimate, the merchant then insists on being paid for a
written estimate.
This bill would require that estimates advertised as free are
indeed provided at no charge to the customer. This requirement
would protect consumers from merchants who might try to employ
misleading business practices. (Passed Assembly)
Protecting Consumers from Unfair
"Universal Default" Policies (A.809, Rivera P.)
An increasing number of credit card issuers are including
"universal default" clauses in their agreements,
allowing them to raise a customer’s interest rate based
on the customer’s indebtedness or late payments to other
creditors. For instance, a late payment on a telephone bill
could cause a card holder’s interest rate to increase.
Notice of this policy is almost always buried in the fine
print of the card agreement, leaving many customers unaware that
their interest rate could be affected based on late payments
to other creditors. This results in credit card holders being
penalized, even if they have never been late on a payment to
the credit card issuer imposing the penalty.
This bill would put an end to this unfair practice by
prohibiting "universal default" policies and provide
that any violation of the prohibition would be a criminal
offense. (Passed Assembly)
Regulating Credit Card Charges (A.3558,
Lentol)
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit credit card companies
from imposing a fee on customers who choose not to carry a
monthly balance. Paying off the monthly balance on a credit
card is something many people strive to accomplish. Imposing a
fee on such conscientious credit card holders to offset the
losses incurred by other card holders is an unjust business
practice.
This bill would send a clear message that companies should
support their customers who pay off their bills in a timely
manner and not penalize them. (Passed Assembly)
Preventing Fraudulent Practices by Computer
Industry (A.3055, Brodsky)
This bill would protect consumers from fraudulent practices by
computer manufacturers and retailers by prohibiting the industry
from selling as "new" computers and computer accessories with old
or recycled parts. For example, in 1996, the Packard-Bell
Computer Company was caught and convicted of trying to pass off
as new remanufactured and used computer parts.
This bill would mandate that the computer industry use only new
computer parts when it sells "new" computer hardware,
monitors, printers, and other accessories to consumers. It also
would require retailers to affix a label or tag on the outside
of the container box indicating that only new parts have been
used on the computer. (Passed Assembly)
Credit Card Holds in the Lodging Industry
(A.3745, Scarborough)
The purpose of this bill is to require temporary lodging
establishments that accept reservations by charging a credit
card to notify the credit company when that charge account was
not used to make the final payment.
This bill would require temporary lodging establishments (i.e.,
hotels, motels, apartment hotels, inns, boarding-houses,
rooming houses, or lodging houses) that require that a customer
give a credit card for purposes of making a reservation to
immediately notify the issuer of the credit card to remove the
charge when the customer pays the bill by means other than the
credit card. (Passed Assembly)
Increased Penalty for Deceptive Acts
(A.4625, Peoples)
This bill would increase, from $500 to $5,000, the maximum
penalty that may be imposed on a commercial enterprise that
engages in an unfair or deceptive trade practice.
The New York law, which provides for penalties of up to $500
per violation of the state’s deceptive practices and false
advertising statutes, went into effect in 1963 and the amount
of the penalty has not been adjusted upward since then. This
amount is grossly outdated and such an insignificant penalty
does not provide a disincentive to the commission of deceptive
acts and practices. (Advanced to Third Reading Calendar)
Credit Scoring (A.6303-B, Bradley)
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit consumer reporting
agencies from lowering a consumer’s credit score based on that
consumer’s comparison of available mortgage or automobile loan
rates.
This bill would prohibit consumer reporting agencies from using
inquiries of mortgage companies, banks, or other financial
institutions concerning a consumer’s credit in relation to a
mortgage or automobile loan in determining that consumer’s credit
score. The bill would also prohibit consumer reporting agencies
from causing a negative inference to be placed on a consumer
credit report based on that consumer’s comparison of mortgage
or automobile loan rates. (Passed Assembly)
Magazine Customer Service Number Disclosure (A.7812-A,
Rivera, N.)
The purpose of this bill is to ensure that magazine subscribers
are provided a reliable and accessible method of contacting
magazine publishers with subscription-related inquiries.
This bill would require publishers of magazines sold by
subscription to disclose a customer service telephone number
on the billing statement or invoice of each magazine mailed to
subscribers. (Passed Assembly)
C. Protecting Consumer Health and
Safety
Prohibiting Sale of Box Cutters (Chapter 243 of the Laws
of 2005, Markey)
This new law prohibits the sale of utility knives or "box cutters"
to persons under the age of eighteen. In the past few years, the
incidence of assaults on students and teachers in New York State has
escalated dramatically, and utility knives are sometimes being used as
weapons by students. In addition, the law allows communities to enact
stricter laws regarding the sale and regulation of box cutters.
Labeling Sunscreen Products (A.983-A, Weisenberg)
According to the American Cancer Society, over 800,000 new skin
cancer cases of highly curable basal cell or squamous cell
cancers are diagnosed each year. Since 1973, the incidence of
skin cancer has increased about four percent per year. Many
consumers use sunscreen products to prevent the risk of skin
cancer. In light of how important these products are in
combating skin cancer, it is important that the consumer be
aware that sunscreen does not protect against the sun’s rays
after a certain shelf life. This legislation would increase
consumer awareness of sunscreen product effectiveness by
requiring all products to be labeled with a "best if used
before date" and storage recommendations. (Passed Assembly)
Regulating the Sale of Laser Pointers (A.935,
Tokasz)
This bill would prohibit the sale of laser pointing devices to
persons under eighteen years of age. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) warns parents that children may risk
their eyesight if they play with laser pointing devices. The
FDA has stated that the light energy that such devices emit can
be more damaging than staring directly into the sun. Eye
injuries have already been reported to the FDA as a result of
improper use of such devices. In addition, this bill would set
up restricted access for the sale of these devices in stores.
(Passed Assembly)
Off Premise Food Consumption Labeling (A.5185,
Englebright)
This bill would mandate labeling to inform consumers of the date
of preparation of foods intended for off-premises consumption
offered for sale in delicatessens, salad bars, and other food
establishments by requiring a label indicating the date of
preparation. By labeling the freshly prepared food, consumers
will be given the information necessary to decide whether it is
in their best interest to purchase the item. (Advanced to Third
Reading Calendar)
Extending Wheelchair Warranties (A.4885,
Sanders)
This bill would apply the same consumer protections that
currently exist for purchasers of motorized wheelchairs to
non-motorized wheelchairs. It would extend warranty, replacement,
and quality standards to wheelchairs purchased by State agencies,
non-profit medical, dental, health and hospital service
corporations, and health maintenance organizations.
Wheelchairs and their customized component parts are absolutely
essential to the mobility of many persons with disabilities.
Wheelchairs are also very expensive, costing as much as $8,000.
Much of this equipment is subject to frequent breakdown and is
often not covered by warranties or other basic consumer
protection. This bill would significantly reduce financial
stress for those citizens who rely on wheelchairs to meet their
basic transportation needs. (Passed Assembly)
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