The FAIR Act: A Revolution in NY Consumer Law

Effective February 17, 2026, the Fair Access to Insurance and Responsible (FAIR) Act (and related amendments to NY Gen. Bus. Law § 349) fundamentally changes the landscape of consumer litigation in New York.

The “Unfair and Abusive” Standard

Previously, New York law primarily banned “deceptive” acts. The FAIR Act expands this to ban “unfair” and “abusive” acts.

• Unfair: An act that causes substantial injury that is not reasonably avoidable by the consumer (e.g., burying fees in fine print that are impossible to calculate).
• Abusive: An act that takes unreasonable advantage of a consumer’s lack of understanding or their reliance on the company (e.g., steering a confused senior citizen into a high-cost loan).

Why This Matters

This aligns New York law with the federal Dodd-Frank standard used by the CFPB. It allows us to sue companies not just for lying (deception), but for being predatory (unfair/abusive).

Statutory Damages

The Act also increases the potential statutory damages for violations, making it more viable to bring individual lawsuits against bad actors.

Application

We are using the FAIR Act to challenge:

• Predatory fintech apps.
• Aggressive debt collection tactics.
• “Junk fees” charged by servicers and landlords.