Int. No. 660
By Council Members Garodnick, Comrie, Mendez, Mark-Viverito, Barron, Brewer, Fidler, Gennaro, Gentile, Gerson, Gonzalez, Jackson, James, Koppell, Liu, Martinez, Nelson, Palma and White Jr.
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to buyers of consumer debt.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision a of section 489 of title 20 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to read as follows:
a.
“Debt collection agency” shall mean a person engaged in business the principal
purpose of which is to regularly collect or attempt to collect debts owed or
due or asserted to be owed or due to another[.] and shall also include a
buyer of debt who refers such debt to another for collection or to an
attorney-at-law for litigation in order to collect such debt.
§2. Paragraph 5 of subdivision a of section 489 of title 20 of the administrative code of the City of New York is amended to read as follows:
(5) any attorney-at-law or law firm collecting
a debt [as an attorney] in such capacity on behalf of and in the name of
a client [;] through legal activities such as the filing and prosecution of
lawsuits to reduce debts to judgments, but not any attorney-at-law or law firm
who regularly engages in activities traditionally associated with debt
collection, including but not limited to, sending demand letters or making
collection telephone calls;
§3. This local law shall take effect forty five days after it is enacted into law.
ASP
LS#4293
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