A new law protects New Yorkers from liability for the unauthorized use of convenience checks that their debit and credit card companies send without being asked.
Signed Wednesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the law is effective immediately.
Bill sponsors say the measure will discourage banks and other financial institutions from sending out unsolicited checks, which they say are an easy target for mail theft.
When the checks are used by thieves, consumers may not know for some time that their account balances have been depleted.
(AP)
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One Response
Under well established law, a bank is liable if it pays under a forged signature. The principle is that the bank is expected to check the signature and to know its customers.
If a bank is refusing to follow the law, the response needed isn’t a law restating what has always been the case, but to seriously prosecute the bank for misconduct which can be done under existing law.