N.Y. General Business Law § 773: Violations

§ 773. Violations. 1. Technical violations. Every home improvement

contractor who violates any of the provisions of this article shall be

subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one hundred dollars.

2. Substantial violations. Every home improvement contractor who fails

to deposit funds in an escrow account or provide a bond or contract of

indemnity or irrevocable letter of credit in compliance with the

requirements of section seventy-one-a of the lien law, or who fails to

provide a written contract substantially in compliance with the

requirements of this article, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to

exceed the greater of two hundred fifty dollars for each violation or

five percent of the aggregate contract price specified in the home

improvement contract; provided, however, that in no event shall the

total penalty exceed twenty-five hundred dollars for each contract.

3. Mitigating factors; defenses. In an instance where the contractor

has been shown to have committed multiple violations of this article or

the provisions of section seventy-one-a of the lien law, the court shall

consider the following factors in assessing a civil penalty pursuant to

subdivision two of this section: the volume of business which the home

improvement contractor performs on an annual basis, the number of

contracts in violation, the actual financial loss or exposure to

financial loss suffered by any owner as a result of the violations, and

whether the home improvement contractor acted in good faith or willfully

with respect to such violations. No home improvement contractor shall be

subject to the increased penalties provided by subdivision two of this

section if such contractor shows by a preponderance of the evidence that

the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error

made notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to

avoid such a violation.