New York S 4996: Establishes the peer advocacy and mentoring program

Bill Text

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S04996 Summary:

BILL NOS04996 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS A00636

&nbsp

SPONSORHARCKHAM

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §349-h, Gen Bus L

&nbsp

Defines certain terms in standard form contracts as unconscionable.

Go to top S04996 Actions:

BILL NOS04996 

&nbsp

02/14/2025REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

01/07/2026REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

Go to topS04996 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS04996 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS04996 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4996

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 February 14, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- 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 unconscionable
 terms in standard form contracts

 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
 2 349-h to read as follows:
 3 § 349-h. Unconscionable terms in standard form contracts. 1. Find-
 4 ings. The inclusion of unconscionable terms in standard form contracts
 5 regarding dispute resolution is unfair not only because any resulting
 6 dispute resolution proceeding is unfair to the party forced to agree to
 7 the unconscionable terms, but also because the unconscionable terms
 8 discourage valid claims. Furthermore, when the provisions are chal-
 9 lenged, courts may simply strike the unconscionable terms but enforce
 10 the remainder of the agreement regarding dispute resolution. As a
 11 result, businesses have little incentive not to include these terms.
 12 Furthermore, it is unlikely that there is any meeting of the minds over
 13 a dispute-resolution agreement that does not include severed unconscion-
 14 able terms.
 15 2. Definition. For the purposes of this section, "standard form
 16 contract" shall mean any contract to which only one of the parties is an
 17 individual and that individual does not draft the contract. In order to
 18 be a standard form contract, the document constituting the contract need
 19 not be a preprinted form nor need it contain language completely identi-
 20 cal to any other contract.
 21 3. Unconscionable terms. There is a rebuttable presumption that the
 22 following contractual terms are substantively unconscionable when
 23 included in a standard form contract to which only one of the parties to
 24 the contract is an individual and that individual does not draft the
 25 contract:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD02175-01-5

 S. 4996 2

 1 (a) a requirement that resolution of legal claims takes place in an
 2 inconvenient venue. An "inconvenient venue" is, for purposes of state
 3 law claims, a place other than the county where the individual resides
 4 or the contract was consummated, and for purposes of federal law claims,
 5 a place other than the federal judicial district where the individual
 6 resides or the contract was consummated;
 7 (b) a waiver of the individual's right to assert claims or seek reme-
 8 dies provided by state or federal statute;
 9 (c) a waiver of the individual's right to seek punitive damages as
 10 provided by law;
 11 (d) a requirement that the individual bring an action prior to the
 12 expiration of the applicable statute of limitations;
 13 (e) a requirement that the individual pay fees and costs to bring a
 14 legal claim substantially in excess of the fees and costs that this
 15 state's courts require to bring such a state law claim or that federal
 16 courts require to bring such a federal law claim; and
 17 (f) the contract does not advise the individual that it is a legal
 18 document, that the individual should consult with counsel of such indi-
 19 vidual's choosing concerning the meaning of its terms, and does not give
 20 the individual a reasonable time in which to review the contract with
 21 such individual's counsel.
 22 4. Relation to common law and the uniform commercial code. In deter-
 23 mining whether the terms described in subdivision three of this section
 24 are unenforceable, a