N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 604-aa

§ 604-aa. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms\nshall have the following meanings:\n 1. "Action" means any civil judicial proceeding as defined in section\none hundred five of the civil practice law and rules.\n 2. "Adequate documentation of coerced debt" means documentation that\nidentifies a particular debt, or a portion thereof, as coerced debt,\ndescribes the circumstances under which such coerced debt was incurred,\nand takes the form of any of the following:\n (a) a police report;\n (b) a copy of an official, valid report filed by the debtor with a\nfederal, state or local law enforcement agency, the filing of which\nsubjects the person filing the report to criminal penalties relating to\nthe filing of false information, if, in fact, the information in the\nreport is false, that identifies a particular debt, or portion thereof,\nas a coerced debt;\n (c) an order from a court of competent jurisdiction setting forth\nfindings of coerced debt; or\n (d) a written verification, from a qualified third party to whom the\ndebtor reported the coerced debt while the qualified third party was\nacting in their professional capacity, which shall be satisfied by any\nsworn or notarized statement including the required information as well\nas the name, mailing address, and email address or telephone number, as\napplicable, of such qualified third party's employer or, if\nself-employed, of such qualified third party.\n 3. "Coerced debt" means a debt arising out of a transaction primarily\nfor personal, family or household purposes that was incurred because of\nduress, intimidation, threat, force, coercion, manipulation, or undue\ninfluence within the context of intimate relationships or relationships\nbetween family or household members as defined by section four hundred\nfifty-nine-a of the social services law, relationships between victims\nof human trafficking and traffickers as defined by paragraph (i) of\nsubdivision (c) of section four hundred eighty-three-bb of the social\nservices law, relationships between children and their parents or\ncaretakers as defined in subdivisions (b) and (c) of section one\nthousand ninety-two of the family court act, the elderly or individuals\neligible for protective services under subdivision one of section four\nhundred seventy-three of the social services law, and their caregivers.\n 4. "Creditor" means any person, firm, corporation or organization to\nwhom a debt is owed, due, or asserted to be due or owed, any assignee\nfor value of said person, firm, corporation or organization, or any debt\ncollection agency or debt collector as defined by section six hundred of\nthis chapter; provided, however, that "creditor" shall not include a\nperson to whom a debt is allegedly owed, due, or asserted to be due or\nowed, where the person asserting such claim caused the debt to arise by\nengaging in one or more acts of coercion, as identified in subdivision\nthree of this section, against the debtor.\n 5. "Debtor" means any natural person who owes or who is asserted to\nowe a debt.\n 6. "Personal information" includes, but is not limited to, a name,\naddress, telephone or mobile phone number, driver registration number or\nnon-driver identification card number, social security number, email\naddress, social media profile or screen name, place of employment,\nemployee identification number, mother's maiden name, financial services\naccount number or code, savings account number or code, checking account\nnumber or code, debit or credit card number or code, automated teller\nmachine number or code, electronic serial number, any personal\nidentification number or password of a debtor, and a debtor's personal\ndocuments, including, but not limited to, such debtor's driver's license\nor non-driver identification card, passport, permanent resident card,\nvisa, birth certificate, social security card, and any copies thereof or\ninformation contained therein. "Personal identification number or\npassword", as used in this subdivision, means any number or alphanumeric\ncode which may be used alone or in conjunction with any other\ninformation to assume the identity of another person or access financial\nresources or credit information of another person.\n 7. "Qualified third party" means any (a) law enforcement officer; (b)\nemployee of a court of the state, court-appointed special advocate; (c)\nattorney, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker,\nregistered nurse, therapist, or clinical professional counselor licensed\nto practice in any state; (d) person employed by or working on behalf of\na government or non-profit office, agency, or service that advises or\nprovides services to persons regarding domestic violence, family\nviolence, human trafficking, or abuse of children, the elderly, or\ndependent adults; or (e) member of the clergy of a church or religious\nsociety or denomination.\n