S 4319: Establishes restrictions on consumer and employment contracts.
The proposed law aims to improve the understanding of consumer and employment contracts by requiring merchants and employers to use plain language when drafting these contracts. The law will apply to contracts written in a way that is difficult for consumers or employees to understand, such as those with complex or obscure language. The law will cover two types of contracts: consumer contracts and employment contracts. Consumers or employees who sign these non-conforming contracts can seek a court order to reform the agreement to reflect their understanding of the terms. The court may exclude terms that are not written in plain English or found in a separate document. The law will be applied in conjunction with existing rules regarding contract formation, including reasonable notice and the conduct required to assent to an agreement. However, the law will not apply to agreements negotia…
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO JUDICIARY |
| Feb. 04, 2025 | REFERRED TO JUDICIARY |
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4319 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 4, 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 general obligations law, in relation to the provisions of consumer and employment contracts The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general obligations law is amended by adding a new 2 section 5-303 to read as follows: 3 § 5-303. Consumer and employment contracts. 1. Findings. Obscure and 4 overly complex language in consumer and employment contracts interferes 5 with employees' and consumers' ability to provide meaningful assent to 6 their consumer and employment contracts. To ensure that private parties 7 comprehend the material terms of the consumer and employment contracts 8 into which they enter, this section requires that merchants and employ- 9 ers in designated forms of contracts adequately disclose terms and 10 conditions. 11 2. Non-conforming coverage. This section shall apply to the contracts 12 designated in subdivision one of this section that meet any of the 13 following criteria: 14 (a) an employment or consumer contract not written in plain language, 15 pursuant to section 5-702 of this article, that a reasonable consumer or 16 employee would understand; or 17 (b) if a consumer contract, all of the material terms are not found in 18 a single document. 19 3. Covered contracts. The provisions of this section shall apply to 20 the following types of contracts: 21 (a) consumer contracts; and 22 (b) employment contracts. 23 4. Rights when a covered contract is non-conforming. A consumer or 24 employee may seek a court order reforming any contract covered by this 25 section. Such reformed agreement shall reflect the understanding of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05577-01-5S. 4319 2 1 parties, and the court may exclude terms not written in plain English or 2 found in a separate document. 3 5. Pre-existing rules. The provisions of this section shall be applied 4 in conjunction with pre-existing rules regarding contract formation, 5 including rules regarding reasonable notice, and the conduct a consumer 6 or employee must manifest in order to assent to an agreement. The 7 provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to agreements negotiated 8 with any labor union through collective bargaining. 9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 10 it shall have become a law.