§ 748 — Penalties

* § 748. Penalties. 1. Any person, including any member, officer,\ndirector or employee of a buy-now-pay-later lender, who violates or\nparticipates in the violation of section seven hundred thirty-seven of\nthis article, or who knowingly makes any incorrect statement of a\nmaterial fact in any application, report or statement filed pursuant to\nthis article, or who knowingly omits to state any material fact\nnecessary to give the superintendent any information lawfully required\nby the superintendent or refuses to permit any lawful investigation or\nexamination, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction,\nshall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not\nmore than six months or both, in the discretion of the court.\n 2. (a) Without limiting any power granted to the superintendent under\nany other provision of this chapter, the superintendent may, in a\nproceeding after notice and a hearing require a buy-now-pay-later\nlender, whether or not a licensee, to pay to the people of this state a\npenalty for any violation of this chapter, any rule or regulation\npromulgated thereunder, any final or temporary order issued pursuant to\nsection thirty-nine of this chapter, any condition imposed in writing by\nthe superintendent in connection with the grant of any application or\nrequest, or any written agreement entered into with the superintendent,\nand for knowingly making any incorrect statement of a material fact in\nany application, report or statement filed pursuant to this article, or\nknowingly omitting to state any material fact necessary to give the\nsuperintendent any information lawfully required by the superintendent\nor refusing to permit any lawful investigation or examination.\n (b) The superintendent shall not impose or collect any penalty for an\nact or omission constituting a violation of this article if the\nsuperintendent imposes or collects any penalty pursuant to another\nprovision of this chapter for the same act or omission.\n (c) The superintendent shall not impose or collect a penalty for an\nact or omission constituting a violation of this article by a\nbuy-now-pay-later lender more than once for the same act or omission,\nwhere the entity extending credit directly to a consumer is different\nfrom the entity operating a platform, software, or system with which the\nconsumer interacts, unless both entities are found to have knowingly\ncommitted the same act or omission.\n (d) As to any buy-now-pay-later lender that is not a licensee or an\nauthorized buy-now-pay-later lender, the superintendent is authorized to\nimpose a penalty in the same amount authorized in section forty-four of\nthis chapter for a violation of this chapter by any person licensed,\ncertified, registered, authorized, chartered, accredited, incorporated\nor otherwise approved by the superintendent under this chapter.\n 3. No person except a buy-now-pay-later lender licensed under this\narticle shall make, directly or indirectly, orally or in writing, or by\nany method, practice or device, a representation that such person is\nlicensed under this article.\n * NB Effective upon the one hundred eightieth day after the\npromulgation of rules and/or regulations by the department of financial\nservices to effectuate certain provisions (see Ch. 58 of 2025, Part Y, §\n13)\n