N.Y. Real Property Law § 442-e: Violations

§ 442-e. Violations. 1. Misdemeanors; triable in court of special

sessions. Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be

guilty of a misdemeanor. The commission of a single act prohibited by

this article shall constitute a violation hereof. All courts of special

sessions, within their respective territorial jurisdictions, are hereby

empowered to hear, try and determine such crimes, without indictment,

and to impose the punishments prescribed by law therefor.

2. Attorney general to prosecute. Criminal actions for violations of

this article shall be prosecuted by the attorney general, or his deputy,

in the name of the people of the state, and in any such prosecution the

attorney general, or his deputy, shall exercise all the powers and

perform all the duties which the district attorney would otherwise be

authorized to exercise or to perform therein. The attorney general

shall, upon a conviction for a violation of any provision of this

article, and within ten days thereafter, make and file with the

department of state a detailed report showing the date of such

conviction, the name of the person convicted and the exact nature of the

charge.

3. Penalty recoverable by person aggrieved. In case the offender shall

have received any sum of money as commission, compensation or profit by

or in consequence of his violation of any provision of this article, he

shall also be liable to a penalty of not less than the amount of the sum

of money received by him as such commission, compensation or profit and

not more than four times the sum so received by him, as may be

determined by the court, which penalty may be sued for and recovered by

any person aggrieved and for his use and benefit, in any court of

competent jurisdiction.

4. In any prosecution under this article, any person, firm or

corporation who, for another, performs or offers to perform or attempts

or offers to attempt, the performance of any one of the acts set forth

in section four hundred forty of this article, shall be presumed to do

so for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, but such

presumption shall not arise out of a single transaction, except upon

proof of repeated and successive acts, offers or attempts of a like

nature.

5. The secretary of state shall have the power to enforce the

provisions of this article and upon complaint of any person, or on their

own initiative, to investigate any violation thereof or to investigate

the business, business practices and business methods of any person,

firm or corporation applying for or holding a license as a real estate

broker or salesperson, if in the opinion of the secretary of state such

investigation is warranted. Each such applicant or licensee shall be

obliged, on request of the secretary of state, to supply such

information as may be required concerning their or its business,

business practices or business methods, or proposed business practices

or methods.

6. For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this article and in

making investigations relating to any violation thereof, and for the

purpose of investigating the character, competency and integrity of the

applicants or licensees hereunder, and for the purpose of investigating

the business, business practices and business methods of any applicant

or licensee, or of the officers or agents thereof, the department of

state, acting by such officer or person in the department as the

secretary of state may designate, shall have the power to subpoena and

bring before the officer or person so designated any person in this

state and require the production of any books or papers which he deems

relevant to the inquiry and administer an oath to and take testimony of

any person or cause his deposition to be taken with the same fees and

mileage and in the same manner as prescribed by law for civil cases in a

court of record, except that any applicant or licensee or officer or

agent thereof shall not be entitled to such fees and/or mileage. Any

person, duly subpoenaed, who fails to obey such subpoena without

reasonable cause or without such cause refuses to be examined or to

answer any legal or pertinent question as to the character or

qualification of such applicant or licensee or such applicant's or

licensee's business, business practices and methods or such violations,

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

7. In any criminal proceeding before any court or grand jury, or upon

any investigation before the department of state for a violation of any

of the provisions of this section, the court or grand jury, or the

secretary of state, his deputy or other officer conducting the

investigation, may confer immunity, in accordance with the provisions of

section 50.20 or 190.40 of the criminal procedure law.

8. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, with respect to

violations of section four hundred forty-two-h of this article, the

secretary of state is authorized, upon the complaint of any person or on

his or her own initiative, to investigate and prosecute violations of

the provisions of such section by persons not licensed pursuant to this

article and may impose a fine not exceeding one hundred fifty dollars

for the first violation, not exceeding five hundred dollars for a second

violation, and not exceeding one thousand dollars for a third and each

subsequent violation. The attorney general, acting on behalf of the

secretary of state, may commence an action or proceeding in a court of

competent jurisdiction to obtain a judgment against such unlicensed

person in an amount equal to that imposed as a fine.