N.Y. General Business Law § 350-b-1: Disclosures required in advertisements using a senior specific designation

§ 350-b-1. Disclosures required in advertisements using a senior

specific designation. 1. For purposes of this section, "senior specific

designation" shall mean a title, professional designation, credential,

certification, or professional description that indicates the person has

expertise or training in issues specifically related to seniors in their

field.

2. (a) Any person or business who uses a senior specific designation

in making representations for the purpose of inducing, or which are

likely to induce, directly or indirectly, the purchase of the

individual's services shall clearly and prominently disclose, in any

advertisement and in writing to any prospective client at the initial

meeting or consultation with such prospective client, the basis or

source of such senior specific designation, including whether the senior

specific designation was created by the person or business using it. For

the purposes of this section, "clearly and prominently" means:

(1) in written communications, including print and those made through

an electronic medium, the message shall be in a type size sufficiently

noticeable for an ordinary consumer to read and comprehend it, in type

that contrasts with the background against which it appears; and

(2) in oral communications, the message shall be delivered in a volume

sufficient for an ordinary consumer to hear it and comprehend it. Such

message shall be in understandable language and syntax regardless of how

the message is disseminated.

(b) If any communication is presented solely through oral, written, or

visual means, the message disseminated pursuant to paragraph (a) of this

subdivision shall be made through the same means.

(c) The requirements of this subdivision supplement, and shall not be

construed to limit, the obligations of any professional registered or

licensed pursuant to any other section of law and regulations

thereunder, nor shall they be construed to authorize the practice of any

licensed profession nor the offer of professional services by any

unlicensed person.

3. In addition to any civil penalty available under section three

hundred fifty-d of this article, whenever there shall be a violation of

this section, application may be made by the attorney general in the

name of the people of the state of New York to a court or justice having

jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon

notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and

restrain the continuance of such violations; and if it shall appear to

the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant has, in

fact, violated this section, an injunction may be issued by such court

or justice, enjoining and restraining any further violation, without

requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged

thereby. In connection with any such proposed application, the attorney

general is authorized to take proof and make a determination of the

relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil

practice law and rules. In any such proceeding, the court may make

allowances to the attorney general as provided in paragraph six of

subdivision (a) of section eighty-three hundred three of the civil

practice law and rules, and direct restitution.