§ 773 — Violations

§ 773. Violations. 1. Technical violations. Every home improvement\ncontractor who violates any of the provisions of this article shall be\nsubject to a civil penalty not to exceed one hundred dollars.\n 2. Substantial violations. Every home improvement contractor who fails\nto deposit funds in an escrow account or provide a bond or contract of\nindemnity or irrevocable letter of credit in compliance with the\nrequirements of section seventy-one-a of the lien law, or who fails to\nprovide a written contract substantially in compliance with the\nrequirements of this article, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to\nexceed the greater of two hundred fifty dollars for each violation or\nfive percent of the aggregate contract price specified in the home\nimprovement contract; provided, however, that in no event shall the\ntotal penalty exceed twenty-five hundred dollars for each contract.\n 3. Mitigating factors; defenses. In an instance where the contractor\nhas been shown to have committed multiple violations of this article or\nthe provisions of section seventy-one-a of the lien law, the court shall\nconsider the following factors in assessing a civil penalty pursuant to\nsubdivision two of this section: the volume of business which the home\nimprovement contractor performs on an annual basis, the number of\ncontracts in violation, the actual financial loss or exposure to\nfinancial loss suffered by any owner as a result of the violations, and\nwhether the home improvement contractor acted in good faith or willfully\nwith respect to such violations. No home improvement contractor shall be\nsubject to the increased penalties provided by subdivision two of this\nsection if such contractor shows by a preponderance of the evidence that\nthe violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error\nmade notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to\navoid such a violation.\n