2019 New York Laws
ISC - Insurance
Article 79 - Service Contracts
7910 - Enforcement Provisions.

§  7910.  Enforcement  provisions.  (a) The superintendent may conduct
investigations or examinations of providers, administrators, insurers or
other persons to enforce the provisions  of  this  article  and  protect
service   contract   holders   in   this  state.  Upon  request  of  the
superintendent, the provider shall make all accounts, books and  records
concerning  service  contracts  sold  in  this  state  by  the  provider
available to the  superintendent  which  are  necessary  to  enable  the
superintendent  to reasonably determine compliance or noncompliance with
this article.
  (b)  The  superintendent  may  take  action  which  is  necessary   or
appropriate   to   enforce  the  provisions  of  this  article  and  the
superintendent's regulations and orders, and to protect service contract
holders in this state.
  (1) If the provider has violated this article or the  superintendent's
regulations  or  orders, the superintendent may order a service contract
provider to cease and desist from committing violations of this  article
or  the  superintendent's  regulations  or  orders,  may  issue an order
suspending a provider's registration under this article or prohibiting a
service contract provider from marketing, selling,  offering  for  sale,
issuing,  making or proposing to make service contracts, or may issue an
order imposing a civil penalty, or any combination of  these.  An  order
issued  under  this  paragraph  may  be delivered to the provider at its
principal office or to the provider's designated agent  for  service  of
process  indicated  in the provider's registration materials pursuant to
paragraph two of subsection (a) of section seven thousand  nine  hundred
seven of this article.
  (A)  A  person  aggrieved  by an order issued under this paragraph may
request a hearing before the superintendent. The hearing  request  shall
be  filed  with  the  superintendent  within twenty days of the date the
superintendent's order is effective;
  (B) If a hearing is requested, an order issued  under  this  paragraph
shall  be  suspended from the original effective date of the order until
completion of the hearing and delivery of the final decision thereon  by
the  superintendent,  except  that where the provider has demonstrated a
consistent pattern or practice of gross misconduct  in  connection  with
the marketing, sale, offering for sale, issuance, making or proposing to
make  of service contracts, the effective date of the order shall not be
suspended pending the hearing and decision by the superintendent; and
  (C) At the hearing, the burden shall be on the superintendent to  show
why  the  order  issued  pursuant  to  this  paragraph is justified. The
provisions of section three hundred four of this chapter shall apply  to
a hearing requested under this paragraph.
  (2)  The  superintendent may bring an action in any court of competent
jurisdiction for an injunction or other  appropriate  relief  to  enjoin
threatened   or   existing   violations   of  this  article  or  of  the
superintendent's orders or  regulations.  An  action  filed  under  this
paragraph  may also seek restitution on behalf of persons aggrieved by a
violation  of  this  article   or   orders   or   regulations   of   the
superintendent.
  (3) A person in violation of this article may be subject to a monetary
penalty  of  not  more  than  five hundred dollars per violation. If the
violation is not willful,  such  person  may  in  lieu  of  paying  such
monetary  penalty,  provide  restitution to the persons aggrieved by the
violation or otherwise remedy the  violation  within  sixty  days  after
becoming aware of the violation.
  (c)  The  authority  of  the  superintendent  under this section is in
addition to any other authority of the superintendent.