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Senate bill · S5248 (2025-26)

Establishes the home improvement fraud prevention act

New York State Senate

Same as A1783, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Latest action Jun 5, 2026

Sponsor: Rachel May (State Senator, District 48, Democratic/Working Families)

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From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 19, 2026. About our data

Summary

Establishes the home improvement fraud prevention act relating to the responsibilities of home improvement contractors and requiring home improvement contractors to register with the secretary of state.

Summary from NY Open Legislation. How we handle summaries

Amends the General Business Law.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Section 1 of this bill would establish the "Home Improvement Fraud Prevention Act". Section 2 of this bill would amend section 770 of the General Business Law (GBL) to expand the definition of a "custom home" to include two-fa- mily dwellings in addition to single-family residences. Section 3 of this bill would amend Section 771 of the General Business Law to require home improvement contractors to include their registra- tion number in their written contracts. Section 4 of this bill would amend Section 771-A of the General Business Law to require home improvement contractors to obtain a certificate of registration before doing business in New York. Section 5 of this bill would add multiple new sections to the General Business Law to require home improvement contractors to obtain a certif- icate of registration in the State and would line out the necessary requirements to obtain the registration. Applicants must also provide information to the Secretary of State such as their business address, the contact information of the business and proof of insurance. Under the General Business Law a state home improvement contractor board would be formed to oversee multiple registration requirements created under this bill. It also allows for the suspension, revocation, or refusal to renew registration. Section 6 of this bill would increase civil penalties under the General Business Law from $500 to $1000 for home improvement contractors who fraudulently represent themselves to induce the signing of a contract. Section 7 bill of this bill would amend paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 155.05 of the Penal Law by adding language that would clarify that partial performance of a promise, by itself, does not defeat a larceny charge for disaster relief victims. Section 8 of this bill would amend the General Municipal Law to require proof of a valid registration for the issuance of building permits. Section 9 of this bill would amend the Executive Law to create a central state registry of home improvement contractors. Section 10 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take effect two years after it shall have become a law.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Up for a vote
  4. Passed one chamber
  5. Passed
  6. Enacted

Committee

Consumer Affairs and Protection · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Consumer Protection · New York State Senate.

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The sponsor's argument

Why Rachel May says this is needed

Following the devastation of superstorm Sandy, unscrupulous contractors exploited unsuspecting homeowners, promising to repair and mend their homes and requesting hefty down payments. After receiving substantial up-front payment, some contractors took the money and completely failed to commence the work they were paid to perform or absconded after performing just a small amount of work. As a result, hundreds of home- owners were left with no remedy and had difficulty re-procuring the funds needed to repair their homes ("Sandy Contractor Disputes Bedevil LI Homeowners," Newsday, March 21, 2018). Prosecutors in New York have seen an increasing amount of home improve- ment fraud complaints, specifically in instances where public funds were involved. Sadly, prosecutors have found that they have tremendous diffi- culty prosecuting these cases, due to the high legal standard demanded by statute in cases of larceny and fraud under a false promise. Specif- ically, prosecutors must exclude to a moral certainty any hypothesis other than the contractor's fraudulent intent, from the start, to fail to perform the work. This standard is too stringent for disaster relief victims, and it has unnecessarily prevented otherwise meritorious fraud cases from going forward. Even the Department of Justice has found that natural disasters increase opportunities for criminals to exploit people during vulnerable times, which has led to forming the National Center for Disaster Fraud. To address this issue, the bill will create a special carve-out for disaster relief victims from the larceny by false promise statute, since they are a particularly vulnerable population, and will instead require a lower mens rea standard. Meaning, if someone commits fraud against a disaster relief victim, proof of partial performance of that false prom- ise, by itself, will no longer prevent a reasonable jury from making a fraud finding from all the facts and circumstances. This simplified standard will allow prosecutors to successfully bring more contractor fraud cases to court. Furthermore, requiring home improvement contractors to register to do business will allow for oversight if contractors in New York by requir- ing the state to set forth requirements for doing business such as ensuring contractors carry insurance, do not have a history of fraud, and are of good moral character. A registration requirement also means both the State and the homeowner have a record of the contractor in case the contractor does not fulfill his or her contractual obligation to the consumer. In the registration process, the contractor is required to include all of their business contact information in their filing and such information is important in instances where a contractor does not finish a project and the consumer does not have the necessary tools or resources to track them down.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Recorded votes

  • Vote: Committee vote · Consumer Protection

    Senate Consumer ProtectionMay 20, 2026Result: passed

    (5) (2) (0) (0)

Full history

  1. Jun 5, 2026

    In committee

    COMMITTED TO RULES

    NY Senate

  2. May 26, 2026

    Advanced to Third Reading

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

    NY Senate

  3. May 21, 2026

    2ND Report CAL.

    2ND REPORT CAL.

    NY Senate

  4. May 20, 2026

    1ST Report CAL.1295

    1ST REPORT CAL.1295

    NY Senate

  5. May 5, 2026

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS

    NY Assembly

Show full history (5 earlier events)
  1. Apr 21, 2026

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED REFERRED TO CODES

    NY Assembly

  2. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND PROTECTION

    NY Assembly

  3. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

    NY Senate

  4. Feb 20, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

    NY Senate

  5. Jan 14, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND PROTECTION

    NY Assembly

Read the record