Home Improvement Business Trust Fund Rule

Statement of Basis and Purpose of Proposed Rule

Section 2-224(c) of Title 6 of the Rules of the City of New York authorizes the Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to pay out funds from the Home Improvement Business Trust Fund (the “Fund”).  The proposed rule would increase the limit from $20,000 to $25,000 on the amount that DCA can pay out from the Fund for all awards, fines and judgments arising out of a single home improvement contract.   This increase is necessary because the current limit is insufficient to cover judgments to aggrieved consumers.  In the last 5 years, 287 restitution judgments were paid from the Fund.  Approximately 35% of these cases involved awards in excess of $20,000.  The balance in the Fund is sufficient to cover the proposed increase.

New material is underlined.
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“Shall” and “must” denote mandatory requirements and may be used interchangeably in the rules of this department, unless otherwise specified or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Proposed Rule

Paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of section 2-224 of subchapter V of chapter 2 of title 6 of the Rules of the City of New York is amended to read as follows:

(3) Disbursements from the [f]Fund will be made at the discretion of the Commissioner or his or her designee[, provided, however, that invasion of the Fund] and shall be limited to no more than twenty-five thousand dollars for all awards, fines and judgments arising out of a single home improvement contract.