Albany, NY – Governor Hochul today signed legislation (A.8409) sponsored by Assembly Member Rebecca A. Seawright to extend the statutory life of a banking law amendment that allows, and caps, annual administrative fees by licensed lenders on open-end loans. The law, including its consumer protection provisions, was scheduled to expire on June 30. Its effective date is now extended for two years.

“I am pleased that our bill, which reauthorizes vital consumer protections to borrowers of open-end loans, has been signed into law by Governor Hochul,” said Assembly Member Seawright of the Upper East Side, Yorkville, Roosevelt Island, and Chair of the Aging Committee. “Consumer protection and affordability are intertwined.Amid the worst financial security crisis in decades, I will never stop fighting for New Yorkers and the affordable city and state that they deserve.”

Legislation was previously enacted authorizing licensed lenders to charge annual fees – not to exceed the lesser of 1% of the loan amount or $50 – on open-end loans. This amendment to the banking law had a sunset date of June 30, 2000; subsequent legislation extended the effective date to 2025.Assembly Member Seawright’s bill reauthorizes the statute through June 30, 2027.

Rebecca A. Seawright represents the Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island in New York’s 76th Assembly District. She chairs the Aging Committee, which oversees legislation and agencies affecting New York's nearly 5 million older adults, their quality of life, and independence. This includes 60,000 New Yorkers over 65 in her district, the largest concentration in Manhattan. 

Since her 2014 election, and as the first woman to serve the district, Assembly Member Seawright has been a strong voice for over 140,000 constituents, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for public schools, senior centers, parks, and non-profits.She was the Assembly lead sponsor of the ERA to our New York State Constitution. Voters ratified the amendment as a ballot referendum in the 2024 general election.