What New York law means for your contracts, calls and card fees

New York is one of the more rule-heavy states for the way a service company sells. The rules come from the General Business Law, the Department of State, the Department of Taxation and Finance and the Attorney General. This page covers the ones that show up in a website, a business line, an AI receptionist and an email list. New York City adds its own licensing, which has a separate page: see New York City permits and rules. What follows is general information as of October 2026, not legal advice.

Home improvement contracts and what your online quote must leave room for

General Business Law 771 covers home improvement contracts. The contract must be in a writing signed by all parties, in plain English, and the owner must receive a signed copy before work begins. The statute lists what the writing contains:

• the contractor's name, address, phone number and license number, if applicable;
• approximate start and substantial completion dates, with any contingencies that could change them;
• a description of the work, the materials with make and model, and the price;
• a bold-type mechanic's lien notice and a notice about deposits under Lien Law 71-a;
• a schedule of progress payments, if any, in dollars and cents;
• notice that the owner may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, except for certain owner-initiated emergencies backed by a signed, dated statement; and
• since April 23, 2022, disclosure of any property or casualty insurance policy covering the work, with the insurer's phone number and address.

The statute itself does not mention advertising. Whether a license number appears in an ad depends on the license. In New York City, for example, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection issues the home improvement license, so check that office if you work in the five boroughs. For a website, this means your quote or booking tool should not be a price in a text message. It should produce a signed document with every item above. Our website service builds quote-to-contract flows around this.

Sales calls and texts: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the registry

General Business Law 399-z covers telemarketing in the state, and its definitions of telemarketing, telemarketer and unsolicited telemarketing sales call all include electronic messaging texts. On its face, that brings campaign texts under the same hours and registry limits as calls, although parts of the wording speak only of calls and we found no court or Department of State ruling on how they apply to texts. Here is what it says:

• Hours. No telemarketing outside 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the customer's location, unless the customer expressly consented to another time (subdivision 2).
• Do-not-call. No unsolicited sales call to a number that has been on the national registry for 31 days before the call (subdivision 5). An unsolicited call excludes one made at the customer's request or in connection with an established business relationship that neither side has ended, unless the customer has told you to stop (subdivision 1). The state may use the federal registry as its own.
• Opening disclosures. Early in each telemarketing sales call, and no later than 30 seconds in, the caller must give the telemarketer's name and the seller it calls for, the option to be added to the seller's do-not-call list, whether the call is being recorded, the purpose of the call and what is being sold. A recording notice is therefore a statutory item on these calls, not only a good habit (subdivision 2).
• Caller ID. You may not knowingly send misleading or false caller identification, though showing the name or number of the business you call for is allowed.
• Prerecorded sales calls. These need prior express written agreement, an opt-out that ends the call, and a toll-free opt-out for messages that might go to voicemail.
• Penalty. After a hearing, the Secretary of State may fine up to $20,000 per violation. A business is not liable if it used a recent federal registry version, has written policies, trains staff and keeps compliance records.

The prerecorded rules matter for an AI voice that dials out. An AI that answers your inbound line is not a telemarketer, but an AI that makes outbound sales calls with a recorded or synthetic script needs the written agreement first. Federal law adds its own consent rules for texts and calls, covered in our TCPA guide.

Telemarketer registration with the Secretary of State

General Business Law 399-pp requires a telemarketer to hold a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State. The statute defines telemarketing as a plan or campaign to induce payment for goods or services by phone that involves more than one call to a customer in the state. It does not cover sales by other media. Employees of telemarketers are exempt from registering. The listed exemptions include calls where the sale is not completed until after a face-to-face presentation and calls the customer starts without solicitation. Calls between telemarketers and other for-profit businesses are also outside the section, except for retail sales of nondurable office or cleaning supplies.

The statute sets a $500 non-refundable fee, a two-year certificate and a $25,000 bond or letter of credit, with relief from the fee and bond for persons already licensed or registered with a state or federal agency. Knowing violations can be a misdemeanor, and civil penalties of $1,000 to $2,000 per violation are possible. A local company that calls its own past customers to book a service visit and sells at the door may fall outside the section, but a company running a cold-calling campaign into New York homes should ask the Department of State before it dials. The Department's Division of Licensing Services publishes the application and guidance.

Sales tax: maintenance is taxable, capital improvements are not

The Department of Taxation and Finance says services are generally exempt unless specifically taxable, and repair and maintenance of real property is specifically taxable. Its guidance lists mowing, snow removal, hedge and tree trimming, painting an existing house, plumbing and electrical repair, pool maintenance and building cleaning. On a taxable maintenance job you charge tax on materials and labor. Installing a new lawn, retaining walls or planting shrubs and trees is a capital improvement and is not taxable if you get Form ST-124, Certificate of Capital Improvement, from the customer. You must register for a Certificate of Authority at least 20 days before you begin business, and display it at your place of business.

That shapes an online price list: a "lawn mowing, $55" line on your page must be taxed at the customer's location, while an install price is not, if the paperwork is in place. Our sales tax on services guide compares other states.

Card surcharges: post the total price

New York allows a credit card surcharge with conditions. General Business Law 518 says a seller who adds one must clearly and conspicuously post the total price for using a credit card, inclusive of the surcharge. The surcharge cannot exceed the amount the card company charges the business, and the final price cannot exceed the posted price. The law does not prohibit two-tier pricing, where cash and card prices are both shown. A violation can bring a civil penalty of up to $500 each. For a website, that means the card total appears on the quote and the pay page before the customer enters a card, not as a surprise line at checkout.

Recording calls in New York

Penal Law 250.00 defines wiretapping as intentionally overhearing or recording a phone call by someone who is not a participant, without the consent of the sender or receiver. If you are on the call, you may record it. Customers in all-party states are the exception to plan for, with a short notice at the start. See our guide to recording business calls.

The SHIELD Act: safeguards for the data your forms collect

General Business Law 899-bb applies to any person or business that owns or licenses computerized data containing private information of a New York resident. It requires reasonable safeguards, including secure disposal. A business meeting any of three small business tests (fewer than 50 employees, under $3 million in gross annual revenue in each of the last three fiscal years, or under $5 million in year-end assets) may use safeguards appropriate to its size and the sensitivity of the data. The Attorney General enforces it, and there is no private right of action. Section 899-aa requires notice to affected residents in the most expedient time possible and within 30 days after discovery, plus notice to the Attorney General, the Department of State and the State Police. For a service company, that means a customer list in a CRM or a spreadsheet with card or account details is in scope. Use a CRM with access controls, as covered on our custom CRM page.

What this means for your setup

Website. Make the quote tool produce a signed contract with all 771 items, show the card total if you surcharge, and handle tax by job type. Business phone line. Record with a notice, stop sales calls and texts at 9 p.m., and scrub lists against the national registry. AI receptionist. Inbound answering is fine with a recording notice; outbound sales scripts need written consent and an opt-out. See our AI receptionist page. Email. The sources we read show no New York state email statute beyond federal CAN-SPAM, so keep working unsubscribe links and a physical address. Starting up in the state is covered at starting a service business in New York.

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