New York Assembly Bill A00493 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 493 2023-2024 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Consumer Affairs and Protection AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to unfair prac- tices of proprietary institutions of higher education The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions (a) and (g) of section 349 of the general 2 business law, as added by chapter 43 of the laws of 1970, are amended to 3 read as follows: 4 (a) Deceptive or unfair acts or practices in the conduct of any busi- 5 ness, trade or commerce or in the furnishing of any service in this 6 state are hereby declared unlawful. 7 (g) This section shall apply to all deceptive or unfair acts or prac- 8 tices declared to be unlawful, whether or not subject to any other law 9 of this state, and shall not supersede, amend or repeal any other law of 10 this state under which the attorney general is authorized to take any 11 action or conduct any inquiry. 12 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 349-g 13 to read as follows: 14 § 349-g. Proprietary institutions of higher education; unlawful unfair 15 practices. 1. For purposes of this section, "proprietary institution" 16 shall be defined as any licensed private career school, certified 17 English as a Second Language school, or online education marketplace as 18 defined in article one hundred one of the education law, or a for-profit 19 degree-granting institution approved pursuant to the department of 20 education, including any such institution with a physical presence in 21 the state or enrolling New York state students in an online distance 22 education program. 23 2. In addition to the protections afforded to consumers in this arti- 24 cle for students that are attending or at one time attended a proprie- 25 tary institution in this state, the attorney general whenever he or she EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00170-01-3 
 A. 493 2 1 believes from evidence satisfactory to him or her that any proprietary 2 institution, an agent or employee thereof, or a private third party 3 operating in concert with or at the direction of the proprietary insti- 4 tution, has engaged in any of the acts or practices deemed to be unfair 5 under this section, the attorney general may bring an action in the name 6 and on behalf of the people of the state of New York to enjoin such 7 unfair acts or practices, obtain restitution of any moneys or property 8 obtained directly or indirectly by any such unfair acts or practices, 9 and/or obtain civil penalties for violations of this section. In such 10 action preliminary relief may be granted under article sixty-three of 11 the civil practice law and rules. 12 3. An act or practice shall be deemed unfair under this section if: 13 (a) it causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to students 14 that are attending or at one time attended a proprietary institution 15 that cannot be reasonably avoided by students that are attending or at 16 one time attended a proprietary institution; or 17 (b) it is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to students that 18 are attending or at one time attended a proprietary institution, or to 19 competition. 20 4. Nothing in this section shall supersede, amend or repeal any other 21 law of this state under which the attorney general is authorized to take 22 any action or conduct any inquiry. 23 5. In addition to the right of action granted to the attorney general 24 pursuant to this section, any person or class or persons who have been 25 injured by reason of any violation of this section may bring an action 26 to enjoin such unlawful act or practice, an action to recover actual 27 damages, or both such actions. The court may, in its discretion, 28 increase the award damages to an amount not to exceed three times the 29 actual damages. The court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a 30 prevailing plaintiff. 31 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.