2013 New York Consolidated Laws
GBS - General Business
Article 36-A - (770 - 776) HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTS
773 - Violations.

 
    §  773.  Violations.  1.  Technical violations. Every home improvement
  contractor who violates any of the provisions of this article  shall  be
  subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one hundred dollars.
    2. Substantial violations. Every home improvement contractor who fails
  to  deposit  funds in an escrow account or provide a bond or contract of
  indemnity or  irrevocable  letter  of  credit  in  compliance  with  the
  requirements  of  section seventy-one-a of the lien law, or who fails to
  provide  a  written  contract  substantially  in  compliance  with   the
  requirements of this article, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to
  exceed  the  greater  of two hundred fifty dollars for each violation or
  five percent of the aggregate  contract  price  specified  in  the  home
  improvement  contract;  provided,  however,  that  in no event shall the
  total penalty exceed twenty-five hundred dollars for each contract.
    3. Mitigating factors; defenses. In an instance where  the  contractor
  has  been shown to have committed multiple violations of this article or
  the provisions of section seventy-one-a of the lien law, the court shall
  consider the following factors in assessing a civil penalty pursuant  to
  subdivision  two  of this section: the volume of business which the home
  improvement contractor performs  on  an  annual  basis,  the  number  of
  contracts  in  violation,  the  actual  financial  loss  or  exposure to
  financial loss suffered by any owner as a result of the violations,  and
  whether the home improvement contractor acted in good faith or willfully
  with respect to such violations. No home improvement contractor shall be
  subject  to  the increased penalties provided by subdivision two of this
  section if such contractor shows by a preponderance of the evidence that
  the violation was not intentional and resulted from a  bona  fide  error
  made notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to
  avoid such a violation.