N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-1708: General provisions; construction

§ 5-1708. General provisions; construction. (a) The provisions of this

title may not be waived by any payee.

(b) Any transfer agreement entered into on or after the effective date

of this title by a payee who resides in this state shall provide that

disputes under such transfer agreement, including any claim that the

payee has breached the agreement, shall be determined in and under the

laws of this state. No such transfer agreement shall authorize the

transferee or any other party to confess judgment or consent to entry of

judgment against the payee.

(c) No transfer of structured settlement payment rights shall extend

to any payments that are life-contingent unless, prior to the date on

which the payee signs the transfer agreement, the transferee has

established and has agreed to maintain procedures reasonably

satisfactory to the annuity issuer and the structured settlement obligor

for (i) periodically confirming the payee's survival, and (ii) giving

the annuity issuer and the structured settlement obligor prompt written

notice in the even of the payee's death.

(d) No payee who proposes to make a transfer of structured settlement

payment rights shall incur any penalty, forfeit any application fee or

other payment, or otherwise incur any liability to the proposed

transferee or any assignee based on any failure of such transfer to

satisfy the conditions of this title.

(e) Nothing contained in this title shall be construed to authorize

any transfer of structured settlement payment rights in contravention of

any statute or to imply that any transfer under a transfer agreement

entered into prior to the effective date of this title is valid or

invalid.

(f) Compliance with the requirements set forth in section 5-1703 of

this title and fulfillment of the conditions set forth in section 5-1705

of this title shall be solely the responsibility of the transferee in

any transfer of structured settlement payment rights, and neither the

structured settlement obligor nor the annuity issuer shall bear any

responsibility for, or any liability arising from, non-compliance with

such requirements or failure to fulfill such conditions.

(g) The assignee of any transfer agreement or any agreement executed

in connection therewith, shall be subject to all claims and defenses of

the payee against the transferee arising from such transfer agreement

notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary. Recovery hereunder by the

payee shall not exceed the amount owing to the assignee at the time the

claim or defense is asserted against the assignee. Rights of the payee

under this provision can be asserted affirmatively against a claim by

the assignee.