{"id":87980,"date":"2018-01-11T05:22:48","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T10:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=87980"},"modified":"2018-01-09T18:25:40","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T23:25:40","slug":"schneiderman-warns-against-price-gouging-during-winter-weather-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=87980","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman warns against price gouging during winter weather in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-70131\" src=\"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Attorny_General_Eric_T_Schneiderman.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"260\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Attorny_General_Eric_T_Schneiderman.jpg 260w, https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Attorny_General_Eric_T_Schneiderman-150x128.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/>Schneiderman Urges New Yorkers To Report Potential Fraud To His Office, Offers Tips To Protect Consumers<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today issued a consumer alert warning both consumers and businesses about price gouging ahead of this week\u2019s winter storm that is impacting parts of New York State. A state of emergency has been in effect since Thursday morning for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester.<\/p>\n<p>General Business Law prohibits excessive increases in prices of essential goods and services like food, water, gas, generators, batteries, and flashlights, hotel lodging, and transportation, during natural disasters or other events that disrupt the market. During and after severe winter weather events, these goods and services might also include snow plowing, snow removal from roofs, shovels and other snow removal equipment, salt, and contract services for storm-related damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, dishonest fraudsters will use severe winter weather as an excuse to illegally line their pockets,\u201d said\u00a0<strong>Attorney General Schneiderman<\/strong>. \u201cWe will not tolerate those who seek to exploit weather emergencies storms at the expense of New Yorkers. I urge anyone who believes they have been a victim of price gouging scams to immediately contact my office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New York State\u2019s Price Gouging Law (General Business Law \u00a7 396-r) prohibits merchants from taking unfair advantage of consumers by selling goods or services for an \u201cunconscionably excessive price\u201d <!--more-->during an \u201cabnormal disruption of the market.\u201d The price gouging law covers New York State vendors, retailers and suppliers, including but not limited to supermarkets, gas stations, hardware stores, bodegas, delis, and taxi and livery cab drivers.<\/p>\n<p>The aftermath of winter storms may also necessitate the hiring of contractors to assist with additional snow removal and home repairs. Reports of roof collapses and the possibility of flooding from warming temperatures are two areas of significant concern.<\/p>\n<p>Consumers should protect themselves when hiring contractors to perform storm-related services by considering the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Shop around.<\/strong>\u00a0Get at least three estimates from reputable contractors that include specific information about the materials and services to be provided for the job.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get it in writing.<\/strong>\u00a0Insist on a written contract that includes the price and description of the work needed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t pay unreasonable advance sums.\u00a0<\/strong>Negotiate a payment schedule tied to the completion of specific stages of the job. Never pay the full price up front.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get references.<\/strong>\u00a0Check with the Better Business Bureau, banks, suppliers, and neighbors. Always contact references provided to you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Know your rights.\u00a0<\/strong>You have three days to cancel after signing a contract for home improvements. All cancellations must be in writing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>New York&#8217;s price gouging law takes effect upon the occurrence of triggering events that cause an \u201cabnormal disruption of the market.\u201d An \u201cabnormal disruption of the market\u201d is defined as \u201cany change in the market, whether actual or imminently threatened,\u201d that results from triggering events such as \u201cweather events, power failures, strikes, civil disorder, war, military action, national or local emergency, or other causes.\u201d During an abnormal disruption of the market like a major weather event, all parties within the chain of distribution for any essential consumer goods or services are prohibited from charging unconscionably excessive prices. \u201cConsumer goods\u201d are defined by the statute as \u201cthose used, bought or rendered primarily for personal, family or household purposes.\u201d For example, gasoline, which is vital to the health, safety, and welfare of consumers, is a \u201cconsumer good\u201d under the terms of the statute. Therefore, retailers may not charge unconscionably excessive prices for gasoline during an abnormal disruption of the market.<\/p>\n<p>New York&#8217;s price gouging law does not specifically define what constitutes an \u201cunconscionably excessive price.\u201d However, the statute provides that a price may be unconscionably excessive if: the amount charged represents a gross disparity between the price of the goods or services which were the subject of the transaction and their value measured by the price at which such consumer goods or services were sold or offered for sale by the defendant in the usual course of business immediately prior to the onset of the abnormal disruption of the market.<\/p>\n<p>Any New Yorkers who believe they have been the victim of price gouging should call the Attorney General&#8217;s office at\u00a0<a href=\"tel:(800)%20771-7755\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">800-771-7755<\/a>\u00a0or visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/links.govdelivery.com\/track?type=click&amp;enid=ZWFzPTEmbXNpZD0mYXVpZD0mbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTgwMTA0LjgzMTkxNDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE4MDEwNC44MzE5MTQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTc1ODE5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bWFyZ29AbTNwbWVkaWEuY29tJnVzZXJpZD1tYXJnb0BtM3BtZWRpYS5jb20mdGFyZ2V0aWQ9JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&amp;&amp;&amp;100&amp;&amp;&amp;http:\/\/www.ag.ny.gov\/price-gouging-complaint-form\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/links.govdelivery.com:80\/track?type%3Dclick%26enid%3DZWFzPTEmbXNpZD0mYXVpZD0mbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTgwMTA0LjgzMTkxNDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE4MDEwNC44MzE5MTQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTc1ODE5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bWFyZ29AbTNwbWVkaWEuY29tJnVzZXJpZD1tYXJnb0BtM3BtZWRpYS5jb20mdGFyZ2V0aWQ9JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY%3D%26%26%26100%26%26%26http:\/\/www.ag.ny.gov\/price-gouging-complaint-form&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1515622323714000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZ0Pbhi6YgRwQVUAIe4Mro4j8NUg\">www.ag.ny.gov\/price-gouging-<wbr \/>complaint-form<\/a>\u00a0to file a complaint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Schneiderman Urges New Yorkers To Report Potential Fraud To His Office, Offers Tips To Protect Consumers Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today issued a consumer alert warning both consumers and businesses about price gouging ahead of this week\u2019s winter storm that is impacting parts of New York State. A state of emergency has been in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}