2023 New York Laws › GBS - General Business › Article 22-A - Consumer Protection From Deceptive Acts and Practices › 350-B-1 - Disclosures Required in Advertisements Using a Senior Specific Designation.

§  350-b-1.  Disclosures  required  in  advertisements  using a senior
specific designation. 1. For purposes of this section, "senior  specific
designation"  shall  mean a title, professional designation, credential,
certification, or professional description that indicates the person has
expertise or training in issues specifically related to seniors in their
field.
2. (a) Any person or business who uses a senior  specific  designation
in  making  representations  for  the  purpose of inducing, or which are
likely  to  induce,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  purchase   of   the
individual's  services  shall  clearly  and prominently disclose, in any
advertisement and in writing to any prospective client  at  the  initial
meeting  or  consultation  with  such  prospective  client, the basis or
source of such senior specific designation, including whether the senior
specific designation was created by the person or business using it. For
the purposes of this section, "clearly and prominently" means:
(1) in written communications, including print and those made  through
an  electronic  medium, the message shall be in a type size sufficiently
noticeable for an ordinary consumer to read and comprehend it,  in  type
that contrasts with the background against which it appears; and
(2) in oral communications, the message shall be delivered in a volume
sufficient  for  an ordinary consumer to hear it and comprehend it. Such
message shall be in understandable language and syntax regardless of how
the message is disseminated.
(b) If any communication is presented solely through oral, written, or
visual means, the message disseminated pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subdivision shall be made through the same means.
(c) The requirements of this subdivision supplement, and shall not  be
construed  to  limit,  the obligations of any professional registered or
licensed  pursuant  to  any  other  section  of  law   and   regulations
thereunder, nor shall they be construed to authorize the practice of any
licensed  profession  nor  the  offer  of  professional  services by any
unlicensed person.
3. In addition to any civil  penalty  available  under  section  three
hundred  fifty-d of this article, whenever there shall be a violation of
this section, application may be made by the  attorney  general  in  the
name of the people of the state of New York to a court or justice having
jurisdiction  by  a  special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon
notice to the defendant of not  less  than  five  days,  to  enjoin  and
restrain  the  continuance of such violations; and if it shall appear to
the satisfaction of the court or justice  that  the  defendant  has,  in
fact,  violated  this section, an injunction may be issued by such court
or justice, enjoining and restraining  any  further  violation,  without
requiring  proof  that  any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged
thereby. In connection with any such proposed application, the  attorney
general  is  authorized  to  take  proof and make a determination of the
relevant facts and to issue  subpoenas  in  accordance  with  the  civil
practice  law  and  rules.  In  any  such proceeding, the court may make
allowances to the attorney general  as  provided  in  paragraph  six  of
subdivision  (a)  of  section  eighty-three  hundred  three of the civil
practice law and rules, and direct restitution.