N.Y. GBS Law § 70 — New York Code / Act GBS / Article 7 / Section 70
Private investigator license
Status: in_force

§ 70. Private investigator license. 1. The department of state shall\nhave the power to issue licenses to private investigators. Nothing in\nthis article shall prevent a private investigator licensed hereunder\nfrom performing the services of a watch, guard or patrol agency or bail\nenforcement agent as defined herein; however, a watch, guard or patrol\nagency or bail enforcement agent may not perform the services of a\nprivate investigator as defined herein.\n  2. No person, firm, company, partnership, limited liability company or\ncorporation shall engage in the business of private investigator or\nadvertise his, their or its business to be that of private investigator\nnotwithstanding the name or title used in describing such agency or\nnotwithstanding the fact that other functions and services may also be\nperformed for fee, hire or reward, without having first obtained from\nthe department of state a license so to do, as hereinafter provided, for\neach bureau, agency, sub-agency, office and branch office to be owned,\nconducted, managed or maintained by such person, firm, company,\npartnership, limited liability company or corporation for the conduct of\nsuch business.\n  3. No person, firm, company, partnership, limited liability company or\ncorporation shall engage in the business of furnishing or supplying for\nfee, hire or any consideration or reward information as to the personal\ncharacter or activities of any person, firm, company, or corporation,\nsociety or association, or any person or group of persons, or as to the\ncharacter or kind of the business and occupation of any person, firm,\ncompany or corporation, or own or conduct or maintain a bureau or agency\nfor the above mentioned purposes, except exclusively as to the financial\nrating, standing, and credit responsibility of persons, firms, companies\nor corporations, or as to the personal habits and financial\nresponsibility of applicants for insurance, indemnity bonds or\ncommercial credit or of claimants under insurance policies, provided the\nbusiness so exempted does not embrace other activities as described in\nsection seventy-one of this article, or except where such information is\nfurnished or supplied by persons licensed under the provisions of\nsection twenty-four-a or subdivision three-b of section fifty of the\nworkers' compensation law or representing employers or groups of\nemployers insured under the workers' compensation law in the state\ninsurance fund, without having first obtained from the department of\nstate, as hereafter provided, a license so to do as private investigator\nfor each such bureau or agency and for each and every sub-agency, office\nand branch office to be owned, conducted, managed or maintained by such\npersons, firm, limited liability company, partnership or corporation for\nthe conduct of such business. Nothing contained in this section shall be\ndeemed to include the business of adjusters for insurance companies, nor\npublic adjusters licensed by the superintendent of financial services\nunder the insurance law of this state.\n  4. Any person, firm, company, partnership or corporation who violates\nany provision of this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n