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On December 19, 2025, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable (FAIR) Business Practices Act (or the Act),1 which expands the attorney general's enforcement powers under New York's consumer protection statute, General Business Law (GBL) § 349. The Act is effective on February 17, 2026.
For nearly 50 years, New York's GBL § 349 provided for public and private enforcement of "deceptive" practices. The Act amends GBL § 349 to also prohibit "unfair" and "abusive" trade practices. Although an earlier version of the bill permitted private enforcement of unfair and abusive practices, the version signed into law permits private enforcement of only "deceptive" practices. Additionally, the Act explicitly eliminates the judicially created "consumer-oriented" doctrine from public enforcement, opening the door to actions brought by the attorney general involving transactions between businesses or other organizations.
The FAIR Business Practices Act prohibits abusive and unfair acts and practices
Under New York's consumer protection statute, GBL § 349, "deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any business, trade or commerce" in New York are unlawful.2 The FAIR Business Practices Act expands the law's coverage to also prohibit "unfair" or "abusive" acts or practices.
An act or practice is "unfair" under the Act if it "causes or is likely to cause substantial injury which is not reasonably avoidable and is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition."3 This definition largely tracks the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) definition of "unfair"4 but does not require injury to consumers.
The Act defines "abusive" acts or practices as those that "materially interfere[] with the ability of a person to understand a term or condition of a product or service" or "take[] unreasonable advantage of (a) a lack of understanding on the part of a person of the material risks, costs, or conditions of a product or service; (b) the inability of a person to protect such person's interests in selecting or using a product or service; or (c) the reasonable reliance by a person on a person engaging in the act or practice to act in the relying person's interests."5This definition is modeled after the definition of "abusive" in the federal Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA)6 but expands on it by prohibiting abusive acts that take place on either side of commercial transactions — not just those that are alleged to harm consumers.
The Act does not permit private enforcement of unfair and abusive practices
The legislation originally introduced in early 2025 permitted private litigants to enforce the newly prohibited unfair and abusive acts. However, this provision ultimately did not survive the legislative process and was not included in the version of the bill ultimately signed into law. Instead, the Act vests enforcement authority for "unfair" and "abusive" acts and practices exclusively in the attorney general. The sponsor's memorandum explains that "[n]o change is intended to be made to the private right of action, which remains limited to consumer-oriented deceptive acts and practices."7
The Act abolishes the "consumer-oriented" doctrine in attorney general enforcement actions
GBL § 349 has been interpreted by courts to prohibit only "consumer-oriented" deceptive business practices that broadly affect consumers.8 "Private contract disputes, unique to the parties," have typically been excluded from the scope of the law.9 The Act's text makes clear that the "consumer-oriented" doctrine will not limit the attorney general's power to prosecute GBL § 349 violations that occur during private transactions: "An act or practice made unlawful by this section is actionable by the attorney general regardless of whether or not that act or practice is consumer-oriented."10 Accordingly, businesses acting unfairly, deceptively or abusively during "single shot transaction[s]" not typical of "ordinary or recurring consumer transaction[s]" are now subject to scrutiny by the attorney general under GBL § 349.11
Increased enforcement is expected
Business can expect increased enforcement activity by the office of the attorney general after the Act is effective on February 17, 2026. While consumer class actions often allege violations of GBL § 349, the Act's amendments explicitly do not permit private enforcement. Accordingly, we do not expect the Act to impact the consumer class action landscape, beyond confirming the contours of conduct that can — and cannot — form the basis of putative consumer class actions alleging a violation of GBL § 349.
Footnotes
1. Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act, 2025 Sess. Laws Ch. 708 (S. 8416), https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2025/S8416.
2. N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349(a).
3. Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act § 349(a)(1), 2025 Sess. Laws Ch. 708 (S. 8416), https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2025/S8416.
4. For the FTC's purposes, an act is unfair if it "causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers which is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves and not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition." 15 U.S.C. § 45(n) (emphasis added).
5. Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act § 349(a)(2), 2025 Sess. Laws Ch. 708 (S. 8416), https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2025/S8416.
6. The CFPA defines abusive as an act or practice that "materially interferes with the ability of a consumer to understand a term or condition of a consumer financial product or service; or takes unreasonable advantage of (A) a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer of the material risks, costs, or conditions of the product or service; (B) the inability of the consumer to protect the interests of the consumer in selecting or using a consumer financial product or service; or (C) the reasonable reliance by the consumer on a covered person to act in the interests of the consumer." 12 U.S.C. § 5531(d) (emphasis added).
7. Senate Bill S8416 Sponsor Memo, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8416.
8. Oswego Laborers' Loc. 214 Pension Fund v. Marine Midland Bank, N.A., 85 N.Y.2d 20, 25 (1995).
9. Id.
10. Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act § 349(b)(3), 2025 Sess. Laws Ch. 708 (S. 8416), https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2025/S8416.
11. Genesco Entertainment, a Div. of Lymutt Industries, Inc. v. Koch, 593 F. Supp. 743, 752 (S.D.N.Y. 1984).
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