Advocates rallied this week in support of the newly announced People and Organizations Winning Economic Relief (POWER) Act, legislation that would create a New York City law protecting consumers, tenants, small businesses, and workers from unfair, deceptive and abusive practices, making it one of the strongest in the country.

The bill would expand the scope of who can bring a lawsuit, and on what grounds. For example, the bill would let tenant unions sue landlords for deceptive trade practices or allow taxi drivers to sue financing companies over unfair loan terms. Consumers scammed by predatory for-profit schools could sue to seek loan relief, and nonprofits could bring claims on their own behalf, their members’, and the public’s. Importantly for New York City, it would allow homeowners to bring a strong case to combat deed theft, a scam that has been scourging New York City’s homeownership neighborhoods and robbing the city of affordable housing.

Under current New York laws, individuals can only sue over deception, a narrow type of unlawful business conduct. Further, the current law hinders ordinary people by requiring that the person show that they were not the only one deceived; that the business engages in a pattern and practice of that deception. The new law would eliminate this hurdle and would allow individuals, workers, and small businesses to sue over unfair methods of competition and unfair, deceptive, abusive, or unlawful practices.

Originating from the Mayor and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the bill was introduced to the City Council by Councilmember Harvey Epstein and already has several co-sponsors, including Tiffany Caban, Christopher Marte, Crystal Hudson, Shirley Aldebol, Julie Won, Shaun Abreu, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Amanda C. Farías, Shekar Krishnan, Shanel Thomas-Henry, and Sandy Nurse. The Power Act would close gaps in current law that The Legal Aid Society has long advocated for.