Cold Calling Still Prohibited in New York

Real estate licensees may not make any unsolicited phone calls to a member of the public during a State of Emergency. General Business Law §399-z(5)(a) states “It shall be unlawful for any telemarketer doing business in this state to knowingly make an unsolicited telemarketing sales call to any person in a county, city, town or village under a declared state of emergency or disaster emergency as described in sections twenty-four or twenty-eight of the executive law.” All other types of marketing such as mailers, billboards, social media, internet etc., are permitted. You may call a FSBO if you have an identifiable purchaser interested in the property.  You are prohibited from calling the FSBO to solicit the listing.  You may still perform business to business calls so long as you are calling the number provided as the business number.

NYSAR is monitoring all of the current Executive Orders declaring a State of Emergency.

The following States of Emergency are still in effect: (as of 8-15-23)

EO 28.4: Support Asylum Seekers
Declared: Extended on August 25, 2023 (Original EO 28 declared May 9, 2023)
Expires: September 24, 2023

EO 3.24: Disaster Emergency related to Gun Violence
Declared: Extended on September 12, 2023 (Original EO 211 declared July 6, 2021)
Expires: October 11, 2023

If you have any questions about Cold Calling, please contact the NYSAR Legal Hotline.  The Legal Hotline is available Monday-Friday from 9:00am-4:00pm at 518-436-9727.