NYS' Deceptive Acts and Practices Law has been expanded to include "Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts and Practices" and it is now called the FAIR Act - "fostering affordability and integrity through reasonable (FAIR) business practices act" - with the changes being effective on February 17, 2026. The biggest change being that the law's, GBL 349, consumer-oriented requirement has been dropped as a requisite for the Attorney General to bring a claim, but not for private claims. Under the amended law, a business' act is now also violated for being "unfair" and "abusive."
Unfair means that the act "causes or is likely to cause substantial injury which is not reasonably avoidable and is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition."
Abusive means if:
"(i) "it materially interferes with the ability of a person to understand a term or condition of a product or service; or
(ii) it takes unreasonable advantage of:
(A) a lack of understanding on the part of a person of the material risk, costs, or conditions of a product or service;
(B) the inability of a person to protect such person's interests in selecting or using a product or service; or
(C) the reasonable reliance by a person on a person engaging in the act or practice to act in the relying person's interests."
Businesses hit with claims under this amended law, remember YOU HAVE FIVE BUSINESS DAYS after receipt of a certified mail from the attorney general to advise as to why an action or proceeding should not be instituted.
If you receive a certified letter from the NY Attorney General under the FAIR Act, you have five business days. Call Lieb at Law immediately.
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