NY Real Prop L § 442-E (2021)
2021 New York Laws RPP - Real Property Article 12-A - Real Estate Brokers and Real Estate Salesmen 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  his   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 salesman, 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 his 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.