This Legislature hereby finds and determines that many Suffolk
County residents have experienced property damages as a result of
fire, flooding, hurricane, storm or other hardship events. This Legislature
further finds and determines that persons who sustain damages to their
home as a result of a fire or other calamity are faced with many immediate
and pressing problems; securing and protecting their damaged property
is a fundamental concern. This Legislature determines that numerous
businesses which board up, tarp or otherwise secure damaged buildings
operate in Suffolk County free of any regulation or oversight. This
Legislature also finds that local emergency responders have expressed
concern about the business practices of some of these "board-up" businesses.
Local firefighters complain that multiple board-up businesses descend
on fire scenes; that they ignore instructions from the local fire
companies that are attempting to manage the scene; that they wear
uniforms that cause property owners to believe they are acting in
some official capacity; and that they employ high-pressure and deceptive
practices to win business from home owners. This Legislature further
finds that board-up businesses operating within Suffolk County should
be regulated to protect consumers from unconscionable and unscrupulous
business practices and to ensure that firefighters and other emergency
responders can perform their roles without unnecessary distractions
and interference. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to require
board-up businesses to register with the Department of Labor, Licensing
and Consumer Affairs and to comply with minimum consumer protection
measures.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
BOARD-UP BUSINESS
Any person, corporation, firm, proprietorship or other entity
or business organization that engages in a business that provides
board-up services.
BOARD-UP SERVICES
The act of boarding up, tarping or otherwise securing a residential
building damaged by fire, flood, hurricane, storm or other emergency
event.
COMMISSIONER
The Commissioner of the Department of Labor, Licensing and
Consumer Affairs.
DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES
Any false, falsely disparaging or misleading oral or written
statement, visual description, or other representation of any kind,
which has the capacity, tendency or effect of deceiving or misleading
consumers or the consuming public and is made in connection with a
contract, preparation of or performance of a work estimate or invoice
in the extension of consumer credit, or in the collection of consumer
debts. Deceptive trade practices include, but are not limited to:
A.
Representations that:
(1)
Services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, uses,
or benefits that they do not have.
(2)
The seller has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation
or connection that he/she does not have.
B.
The use, in any oral or written representation, of exaggeration,
innuendo or ambiguity as to a material fact.
C.
Failure to state a material fact if such failure deceived or
tends to deceive.
D.
Disparaging the services or business of another by false or
misleading representations of material fact.
E.
Offering services without intent to sell them.
F.
Making false or misleading representations of fact concerning
the reason for, existence of or amounts of price reductions, or the
price in comparison to prices of competitors or one's own price
at a past or future time.
G.
Falsely stating that a consumer transaction involves consumer
rights, remedies or obligations.
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
FIRE MARSHAL
A fire marshal duly appointed by or employed by any municipality.
FRES
The Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.
IDENTIFICATION CARD
A card issued to the holder of a registration, as defined
herein, or to the employees of such a holder.
REGISTRATION
A certificate or document issued to a natural person or business
by the Commissioner authorizing the holder to engage in emergency
property preservation.
UNCONSCIONABLE TRADE PRACTICE
Any act or practice which unfairly takes advantage of the
lack of knowledge, ability, experience or capacity of the consumer
or which results in a gross disparity between the value received by
a consumer and the price paid by the consumer. This term shall include
any acts or practices which unfairly take advantage of a sudden disaster,
such as hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, blizzards, explosions, airplane
crashes, earthquakes, nuclear war, radiological emergencies, war,
civil unrest or disobedience, or acts of God and comparable acts which
result in gross disparity between the value received by a consumer
and the price ordinarily paid by the consumer in the absence of one
of these above occurrences. The existence of such a disaster shall
be established, for the purposes of this article, by a written declaration
either by the County Executive or a majority of the entire membership
of the County Legislature. The Commissioner shall initiate investigation
of such unconscionable trade practices immediately after any one of
the natural disasters or acts of God described above.
The following acts are prohibited:
A. Abandonment or willful failure to perform, without justification,
any contract engaged in by a registrant.
B. Willful deviation from or disregard of contract specifications or
estimates in any material respect without the consent of the contracting
party.
C. Engaging in deceptive trade practices or unconscionable trade practices
in the solicitation or procurement of a contract, or in the preparation
of or performance of a work estimate or invoice, or in the collection
of debts incurred for services.
D. Willful failure to comply with any lawful order, demand or requirement
made by the Commissioner or the office or the local authorities having
jurisdiction over the work being performed.
The Department shall maintain an online registry of the registered
board-up businesses which allows consumers to look up a business registration
status.
This article shall be enforced by the Department of Labor, Licensing
and Consumer Affairs.
The Commissioner of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer
Affairs is hereby authorized and empowered to issue and promulgate
such rules and regulations as he or she may deem necessary for the
implementation and enforcement of this article.
This article shall apply to all board-up businesses operating
in Suffolk County on or after the effective date of this article.