New York enacts new consumer protection measures

State Issues State Legislation New York Student Lending NYDFS Unbanked Consumer Finance

Recently, the New York governor signed legislation regarding consumer protections and student transcripts. The first piece of legislation, S.1684/A.8293 directs NYDFS to conduct a study of underbanked communities and households in the state and to make recommendations on improving access to financial services. The bill, among other things, updates the data on households that are unbanked and underbanked and analyzes the data to develop an assessment for NYDFS. Additionally, S.4894/A.1693 prohibits banking institutions from issuing unsolicited mail-loan checks, defined by NYDFS as “an unsolicited loan offer that is sent by mail and once cashed or deposited binds the recipient to the loan terms, which may include high interest rates for multiple years.”

The New York governor also signed legislation that prohibits colleges and universities from withholding transcripts from individuals who owe the schools money. This legislation, S.5924/A.6938 establishes, among other things, that no institution, under certain circumstances, can “condition the provision of a transcript on a student's payment of a debt to such institution or school.”