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Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to consumer protection
- Referred to consumer protection
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S707
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting debt collectors from collecting or attempting to collect a debt owed by a deceased debtor that is known to be deceased
Purpose of bill
This bill would require that debt collection agencies that are attempting to collect outstanding debts of deceased individuals from surviving family and household members inform them that they are not legally obligated to repay the debts of the deceased.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends the general business law by adding a new section 601-a. This section requires that all principal creditors and debt collection agencies must disclose to all persons contacted regarding a debt incurred by a deceased debtor that such person is not legally required to pay that he or she is not legally required to repay such deceased debtor's debts. Any aggrieved person may bring an action against such a practice and recover a civil penalty. Class actions to recover damages are specifically authorized.
Justification
Recent investigations have shown that debt collection companies often pursue payments from relatives of deceased debtors. A New York Times article described the practices of a debt collection agency whose agents are specially trained to employ "empathic active listening" techniques to comfort grieving families while luring them into paying the deceased's debts. This may be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act since this law prevents collection companies from contacting anyone other than the debtor about outstanding bills. Even if this practice is not illegal, this legislation will ensure that debt collectors are required to notify the relatives that they contact that they have no legal obligation to payoff the debt of the deceased. As it stands, relatives of deceased debtors are not required by law to assume their loved ones' debts but collection agencies often omit this information when they ask the relatives to make payments on outstanding bills.
Prior legislative history
2010: S.7205 Same as A.7889-B - Passed Assembly
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.