S 2218: Relates to rental-purchase agreement forms including requirements for font size and how to calculate late charges.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2218 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the personal property law, in relation to rental-pur- chase agreement forms The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2, paragraph (e) of subdivision 3, and subdi- 2 vision 4 of section 501 of the personal property law, as added by chap- 3 ter 792 of the laws of 1986, are amended to read as follows: 4 2. Disclosures required by this section must be printed or typed in 5 each rental-purchase agreement in a size equal to at least [ten-point] 6 twelve-point bold-faced type. 7 (e) requiring the payment of a late charge or reinstatement fee unless 8 a periodic payment is delinquent for more than three days for agreements 9 that are renewed on week by week terms and seven days for agreements 10 that are renewed on month by month terms[,]; provided, however, that 11 neither Saturdays, Sundays, nor federally-recognized holidays during 12 which the United States postal service is not open to the public shall 13 count toward the three or seven day totals, and the charge or fee is in 14 an amount not more than the greater of ten percent of the delinquent 15 amount or three dollars for agreements that are renewed on week by week 16 terms and not more than the greater of ten percent of the delinquent 17 amount or five dollars for agreements that are renewed on month by month 18 terms. In the event that multiple items are leased to a consumer pursu- 19 ant to more than one rental-purchase agreement, any late fee imposed 20 pursuant to this section shall not exceed ten percent of the total of 21 the periodic payments that are delinquent. 22 4. Only one late charge or reinstatement fee may be assessed for a 23 delinquent periodic payment regardless of the period during which it 24 remains in default. No merchant shall assess a late charge for a period- 25 ic payment made in full on its due date or within three days for agree- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04942-01-5 
 S. 2218 2 1 ments that are renewed on week by week terms or seven days for agree- 2 ments that are renewed on month by month terms when the only delinquency 3 is attributable to late fees assessed on earlier periodic payments; 4 provided, however, that neither Saturdays, Sundays, nor federally-recog- 5 nized holidays during which the United States postal service is not open 6 to the public shall count toward the three or seven day totals. With 7 respect to payments accepted by mail or by store deposit box, no 8 merchant shall assess a late fee for payments which are post-marked or 9 received before the expiration of the applicable delinquency periods. 10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 11 have become a law and shall apply to all agreements entered into or 12 offered on or after such date.