Section 20-410
* § 20-410 Legislative declaration. It is hereby declared that the
business of servicing electronic or home appliances has become the
subject of great abuse. The public has been and is unprotected from
unethical and financially unstable service dealers. The necessity for
legislative intervention to protect the public and legitimate service
dealers is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination.
* NB There are 2 § 20-410's
Section 20-411
§ 20-411 Definitions. Whenever used in this subchapter, the following
terms shall mean:
1. "Person" means an individual, firm, partnership, trust, association
or corporation.
2. "Complainant" means the customer of a service dealer who has
complained concerning an alleged violation of this subchapter, any rule
promulgated pursuant thereto, or any practice engaged in by a service
dealer or any of his or her employees.
3. "Service dealer" means a person who within the city of New York:
a. advertises that he or she performs repair service on electronic or
home appliances, or makes public statements reasonably calculated to
lead an ordinary consumer to believe that he or she performs such repair
service;
b. solicits or bills a customer for repair service on electronic or
home appliances;
c. sells service contracts or maintenance agreements for the
performance of repair service on electronic or home appliances and
accepts requests for such repair service under such service contracts or
maintenance agreements;
d. accepts requests for repair service or receives electronic or home
appliances for the performance of repair service; or
e. provides, as part of a sales transaction, repair service, including
repair service performed by the seller, subcontractor, or other service
repairer;
provided, however, that the term "service dealer" shall apply to a
manufacturer of electronic or home appliances only when such
manufacturer acting as a retailer engages in any of the activities
described in this subdivision.
4. "Repair service" or "repair servicing" means the installation,
maintenance, repair, replacement, testing, inspection or modification
for compensation, other consideration or under a warranty, of electronic
or home appliances.
5. "Electronic or home appliance" means any electronic device, or any
appliance, that is commonly used in a household, including, but not
limited to, televisions, radios, stereo systems, compact disc players,
home computer systems, telephones, telephone answering machines,
satellite dishes, cameras, calculators, video recorders or players,
camcorders or other portable video recording devices, cassette recorders
or players, facsimile machines, portable photocopiers, air conditioners,
clothes washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, food freezers,
refrigerators, stoves, ranges, ovens, microwave ovens or sewing
machines.
6. "Service repairer" means a person who performs repair service on
electronic or home appliances.
Section 20-412
§ 20-412 License required; fingerprinting. 1. No person shall
represent or hold himself or herself out to be, or engage in business
as, a service dealer, unless duly licensed pursuant to this subchapter.
2. The commissioner shall require that applicants for licenses issued
pursuant to this subchapter be fingerprinted for the purpose of securing
criminal history records from the state division of criminal justice
services. The applicant shall pay a processing fee as required by the
state division of criminal justice services. Fingerprints shall be taken
of the individual owner if the applicant is a sole proprietorship; the
general partners if the applicant is a partnership; and the officers,
principals, directors, and stockholders owning more than ten percent of
the outstanding stock of the corporation if the applicant is a
corporation. Any person required to be fingerprinted hereunder shall
furnish to the department three current passport-sized photographs of
such person. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the commissioner need not
require applicants for licenses required under this subchapter to be
fingerprinted if criminal history records concerning such applicants are
not available from the state division of criminal justice services.
Section 20-413
§ 20-413 Licenses generally. No license shall be issued or renewed
unless the applicant or licensee is of good moral character and complies
with all requirements governing the operation of the affected business
which the commissioner prescribes by regulation.
Section 20-414
§ 20-414 Fees. The biennial fee for a license or a renewal thereof
shall be three hundred and forty dollars.
Section 20-417
§ 20-417 Duties of licensees. 1. All work done by a service dealer
shall be recorded on an invoice which shall contain the license number
and such other detail as may be required by regulations promulgated by
the commissioner. The invoice shall fully, separately and clearly
describe all service work performed, all parts supplied, the date or
dates thereof, and all charges made and the computations thereof. One
copy of the invoice shall be delivered to the customer and one copy
shall be retained by the service dealer for a period of at least three
years from the date of such delivery.
2. The service dealer shall return all replaced parts to the customer,
except such parts as may be exempted from this requirement by
regulations of the commissioner and except such parts as the service
dealer requires for return to the manufacturer or distributor under a
warranty arrangement.
3. The service dealer shall comply with regulations promulgated by the
commissioner setting forth requirements for estimates or the making of
such estimates and shall inform the customer as to the cost thereof
prior to rendering same.
4. A service dealer shall not make the remuneration, salary, wage, or
other compensation of any employee, partner, officer or member
contingent or dependent upon, or in any manner determined by the value,
price, quantity or type of parts replaced, upon any apparatus serviced
or repaired by any person required to be licensed by this subchapter.
5. A service dealer shall maintain such additional records as are
required by regulations adopted by the commissioner to carry out the
provisions of this subchapter. Such records shall be open and available
for reasonable inspection by the commissioner or other law enforcement
officials, and shall be kept for a period of three years.
Section 20-418
§ 20-418 Regulations. The commissioner shall make such regulations as
deemed necessary for the proper implementation and enforcement of this
subchapter.
Section 20-419
§ 20-419 License denial; right to hearing. No license may be denied
for failure to meet any requirement established by this subchapter or by
the commissioner without a hearing.
Section 20-420
§ 20-420 Issuance, renewal, revocation and suspension of license;
fines. In addition to any powers of the commissioner, and not in
limitation thereof, a license required pursuant to this subchapter may
be suspended or revoked or issuance or renewal thereof denied by the
commissioner, and the licensee may be fined pursuant to subdivision e of
section 20-104 of chapter one of this title, upon a determination made
by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee after due notice and
hearing, that an applicant or a licensee, any of its principals,
officers or directors, or any of its stockholders owning more than ten
percent of the outstanding stock of the corporation:
(a) has practiced fraud or misrepresentation upon a customer;
(b) has practiced fraud or misrepresentation in establishing his or
her qualifications for a license under this subchapter;
(c) has aided or abetted another in practicing fraud or
misrepresentation upon a customer or in establishing qualifications for
a license under this subchapter;
(d) has engaged in or has aided or abetted another in engaging in
untrue, misleading or deceptive advertising, or unlawful selling
practices as defined by the laws of this state, municipality or other
local governmental unit within which such advertising or practices
occurred;
(e) is incompetent or untrustworthy and is thereby unfit to discharge
the responsibilities of a licensee;
(f) has failed upon request to render to the customer an itemized
bill, in writing, containing such details as may be required by the
rules of the department;
(g) has been convicted of a crime which, in the judgment of the
commissioner, has a direct relationship to such person's fitness or
ability to perform any of the activities for which a license is required
under this subchapter or has been convicted of any other crime which, in
accordance with article twenty-three-a of the correction law, would
provide a justification for the commissioner to refuse to issue or
renew, or to suspend or revoke, such license;
(h) has violated any of the provisions of this title, subchapter or
the rules promulgated thereunder, or has knowingly caused, permitted,
aided or abetted another in committing such violation.
Section 20-421
§ 20-421 Informal adjustment of complaints. 1. The commissioner shall
receive complaints from the public against any person issued a license
pursuant to this subchapter.
2. The commissioner shall make a summary investigation of the facts.
3. After investigation, the commissioner may advise the licensee of
the contents of the complaint and may recommend measures that would
compensate the complainant for any damages suffered as a result of the
conduct of the licensee or make recommendations which otherwise may
reasonably dispose of the complaint. If the licensee accepts the
commissioner's recommendations and performs accordingly, such fact shall
be given due consideration in any subsequent disciplinary proceedings
instituted by the commissioner. If the licensee declines to accept the
recommendations of the commissioner and to perform accordingly, the
commissioner may investigate further or may institute a departmental
hearing with respect to the complaint, and may thereafter require the
licensee to make proper restitution to the complainant and may also take
such disciplinary action as provided in this subchapter.
4. If the licensee accepts the recommendations of the commissioner and
is willing to perform accordingly, but the complainant refuses to accept
such recommendations, the commissioner shall not be required to take
further action with respect to the complaint.
Section 20-422
§ 20-422 Powers and duties of the commissioner. 1. In addition to any
other powers of the commissioner, and not in limitation thereof, the
commissioner shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this
subchapter, to investigate any violation thereof, and to investigate the
business, business practices and business methods of any person who is
or may be subject to this subchapter, if in the opinion of the
commissioner, such investigation is warranted. Each person shall be
obliged upon the request of the commissioner, to supply such information
as may be required concerning the business, business practices or
business methods or the proposed business practices or business methods.
2. For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this subchapter and
in conducting investigations relating to any violation thereof, and for
the purpose of investigating the character, competence and integrity of
any person who is or may be subject to this subchapter, and the
business, business practices and business methods thereof, the
commissioner, or commissioner's designee shall have the power to compel
the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and records, in
accordance with the provisions of the civil practice law and rules.
However, no information supplied by any person at the request of the
commissioner concerning his or her business, business practices or
business methods, or proposed business practices or methods shall be
disclosed, except as may be necessary for the purpose of enforcing the
provisions of this subchapter.
3. The commissioner may establish and properly equip an electronic or
home appliance laboratory for the purpose of testing the competence and
integrity of licensed service dealers, whenever complaints against such
licensees would indicate the necessity or advisability for such testing,
and such laboratory may be further used in the necessary investigations
that may be conducted by the commissioner in connection with the proper
administration and enforcement of the provisions of this subchapter and
the rules adopted thereunder.
Section 20-423
§ 20-423 Review. The provisions of article seventy-eight of the civil
practice law and rules shall be applicable to this subchapter.
Section 20-424
§ 20-424 Exceptions. This subchapter shall not apply to any of the
following:
1. the government of the United States or any department or agency
thereof;
2. any school, public or private, offering as part of a vocational
education program, courses and training in repair service and the
instructors and teachers thereof; provided the exclusion granted herein
shall be applicable only to repair service rendered in and as part of a
regularly constituted vocational education program and when such repair
service is not offered to the public for compensation or other
consideration.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
Special thanks to Benjarmin Kallos and Thom Neale who made this content publicly available as a bulk download.