New York Laws
Article 26 - Miscellaneous
394-C - Limitations on Certain Contracts Involving Social Referral Services.

(a) "social referral service" shall include any service for a fee
providing matching of members of the opposite sex, by use of computer or
any other means, for the purpose of dating and general social contact.
(b) "ancillary services" shall refer to goods or services directly or
indirectly related to or to be provided in connection with the social
referral service process, including but not limited to photography,
grooming, cosmetology, dating etiquette, dating counseling, or other
services.
2. No contract for social referral service shall require payment by
the purchaser of such service of a cash price in excess of one thousand
dollars. Services to be rendered to the purchaser under the contract
may extend over a period not to exceed two years from the date the
contract is entered into.
2-a. No social referral service provider shall require the purchase of
an ancillary service by a purchaser of a social referral service as a
condition of entering into a social referral service contract with such
provider.
3. Every contract for social referral service which requires payment
by the purchaser of such service of a total amount in excess of
twenty-five dollars shall provide that the seller of such service must
furnish to the purchaser a specified certain number of social referrals
per month.
4. Every contract for social referral service which requires payment
by the purchaser of such service of a total amount in excess of
twenty-five dollars shall provide that in the event that the seller of
such service does not furnish to the purchaser the specified certain
number of social referrals for two or more successive months the
purchaser shall have the option to cancel the contract and to receive a
refund of all monies paid pursuant to the cancelled contract with the
exception that the seller shall be entitled to retain as a cancellation
fee fifteen per cent of the cash price or a pro rata amount for the
number of referrals furnished to the purchaser, whichever is greater.
Every such contract shall set forth in the contract and in the bill of
rights the manner in which such services provider determines its
cancellation fee pursuant to this subdivision.
5. Every contract for social referral service shall provide that the
seller will not without the prior written consent of the purchaser sell,
assign or otherwise transfer for business or for any other purpose to
any person any information and material of a personal or private nature
acquired from a purchaser directly or indirectly including but not
limited to answers to tests and questionnaires, photographs or
background information.
5-a. Every contract for a social referral service shall provide each
purchaser with the unilateral right to place his or her membership on
hold for a period of up to one year; provided, however, that the
purchaser and social referral service may mutually agree to a longer
period not to exceed two years. To exercise the unilateral right
provided in this subdivision, a purchaser must notify the social
referral service provider in writing of his or her intent to do so.
6. Every contract for social referral service shall provide that at
the expiration of the contract or at the expiration of services rendered
by the seller, for any reason, all information and material of a
personal or private nature acquired from a purchaser directly or
indirectly including but not limited to answers to tests and

questionnaires, photographs or background information shall be promptly
returned by the seller to the purchaser by certified mail.
7. (a) Every contract for social referral service shall provide that
such contract may be cancelled without a cancellation fee within three
business days after the date of receipt by the buyer of a copy of the
written contract.
(b) In every social referral service sale, the seller shall furnish to
the buyer a fully completed copy of the contract pertaining to such sale
at the time of its execution, which is in the same language, e.g.,
Spanish, as that principally used in the oral sales presentation and
which shows the date of the transaction and contains the name and
address of the seller, and in the immediate proximity to the space
reserved in the contract for the signature of the buyer and in not less
than ten-point bold face type, a statement in substantially the
following form:
YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT WITHOUT ANY CANCELLATION FEE
WITHIN THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT. SEE THE
ATTACHED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION FORM FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THIS RIGHT.
(c) Notice of cancellation shall be delivered by certified or
registered United States mail at the address specified in the contract.
(d) At the time the buyer signs the social referral service contract,
a completed form in duplicate, captioned "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION", which
shall be attached to the contract and easily detachable, and which shall
contain in not less than ten-point bold face type the following
information and statements in the same language, e.g., Spanish, as that
used in the contract:
NOTICE OF CANCELLATION
(Date)
YOU MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT, WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION, WITHIN
THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT BY MAILING THIS
SIGNED AND DATED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION BY CERTIFIED OR REGISTERED
UNITED STATES MAIL TO THE SELLER AT THE ADDRESS SPECIFIED HEREIN. IF YOU
CANCEL, ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY YOU UNDER THE CONTRACT WILL BE RETURNED
WITHIN TEN (10) BUSINESS DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE SELLER OF YOUR
CANCELLATION NOTICE. TO CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, MAIL BY CERTIFIED OR
REGISTERED UNITED STATES MAIL A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF THIS
CANCELLATION NOTICE TO:
(Name of Seller) NOT LATER THAN _______________
(Address of Seller)
(Date)
___________________
(e) In every social referral service sale or renewal, the seller shall
provide each purchaser with a clear and conspicuous, separate written
notice, to be known as the "Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights",
which shall contain at least the following information:
Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights
1. No social referral service contract shall require the payment by
you, the purchaser, of an amount greater than one thousand dollars. In
addition, no such contract may extend over a period of time greater than
two years.
2. No social referral service contract shall require you, the
purchaser, to purchase a good or service which is directly or indirectly
related to the social referral service. These extra services are known
as ancillary services and, while these ancillary service may be offered
to you, the law prohibits the seller from requiring that you purchase
this service as a condition of your social referral service contract.

3. If your social referral service contract costs more than
twenty-five dollars, the seller must furnish a minimum number of
referrals per month to you. If this minimum amount is not furnished to
you for two successive months, you have the option of cancelling the
contract and receiving a full refund of all the money you paid, less a
cancellation fee which cannot exceed either fifteen percent of the cash
price or a pro rata amount for the number of referrals furnished to you.
4. Your social referral service contract must specify the distance
which you, the purchaser, are willing to travel to meet any social
referral. No social referrals shall be furnished where you and the
referral live at a distance greater than the distance specified in the
contract.
5. The provider must have an established policy to address the
situation of your moving outside the area it services. This policy must
be explained in your contract.
6. If any provision of the social referral service contract is
violated, you have the right to bring a court action against the
provider which has violated the contract.
8. Every contract for social referral service shall specify the
distance which the buyer is willing to travel to meet any social
referral. No social referral shall be furnished by the seller to the
buyer if either the buyer or the social referral reside at a distance
further than the distance specified in either the buyer's or social
referral's contracts.
8-a. Every social referral service provider must establish and
administer a fair and reasonable policy for the situation in which a
purchaser moves to permanently reside at a location outside the service
area of such provider. This policy must be set forth in every contract
for social referral service.
9. (a) Whenever there shall be a violation of this section an
application may be made by the attorney general in the name of the
people of the state of New York to a court or justice having
jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon
notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and
restrain the continuance of such violation; and if it shall appear to
the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant has, in
fact, violated this section, an injunction may be issued by the court or
justice, enjoining and restraining any further violations, without
requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged
thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make allowances to the
attorney general as provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of
section eighty-three hundred three of the civil practice law and rules,
and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall determine that a
violation of this section has occurred, the court may impose a civil
penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. In
connection with any such proposed application the attorney general is
authorized to take proof and make a determination of the relevant facts
and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and
rules, and direct restitution.
(b) Any person who has been injured by reason of a violation of this
section may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such
violation, an action to recover his or her actual damages or fifty
dollars whichever is greater, or both such actions.
(c) In cities having a population over one million, the provisions of
this section may be enforced concurrently with the attorney general by
the director of a local or municipal consumer affairs office. In cities
having a population over one million, such local entities may also
require social referral services to be licensed. Such licensing

requirements may be promulgated as are reasonably necessary to
effectuate licensure, provided, however, that such localities may not
impose substantive requirements that are inconsistent with or more
restrictive than those set forth in this section. Any fee for such
license may not exceed three hundred forty dollars for a two year
period.

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