Modeled on Protect Borrowers and The Century Foundation May Proposal, The POWER Act Will Allow Tenants, Workers, Consumers, and Small Businesses to Sue Over Unfair, Deceptive, and Abusive Practices
October 8, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine introduced the POWER (People and Organizations Winning Economic Relief) Act today. The bill, which is sponsored by Chair of the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection Harvey Epstein, puts enforcement over abusive and unfair business practices in the hands of the people being cheated.
Under New York state law, people can sue a company over deceptive practices, but not unfair or abusive practices. This makes New York an outlier, as 43 states and the District of Columbia allow for private enforcement of similar laws. The POWER Act would ban unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices in New York City, allow individual New Yorkers to enforce the law, and extend that right to tenant unions fighting landlords over withheld security deposits, taxi drivers stuck with unconscionable loan terms, and borrowers scammed by predatory for-profit schools, among others. See more details about the bill here.
In May, Protect Borrowers and The Century Foundation released Affordable NYC NOW, an affordability agenda for the Mamdani Administration. Included among those proposals was a call to establish a municipal private right of action for consumers, tenants, homeowners, workers, and small businesses with the ability to sue companies over unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices, which could also be enforced by nonprofits on behalf of the general public. Today, that proposal has been adopted in the POWER Act.
“Consumers, homeowners, workers, and small businesses in NYC deserve the same fundamental protections against predatory conduct that residents of every other state already enjoy, and that’s what the POWER Act promises,” said Protect Borrowers legal director Winston Berkman-Breen. “We are in a raging affordability crisis, exacerbated by federal agencies’ refusal to enforce existing protections. The POWER Act offers relief and fills this accountability gap by mirroring these protections at the local level. We applaud the entire City government, from the Council to the Mayor’s Office to DCWP, for coming together to take this powerful but common-sense step to guarantee fairness for New Yorkers.”
“The Power Act will put power back in the hands of consumers, workers and small businesses at a time when the federal government has turned its back on them. Companies that prey on cash strapped New Yorkers, offering risky loan products designed to trap restaurant owners, drivers, and workers in cycles of debt, will face legal consequences,” said Lorelei Salas, The Century Foundation Senior Fellow and former DCWP commissioner. “According to a report by The Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers, New York City residents have seen their debt soar in the last few years and this legislation will help to protect their pockets. I commend Mayor Mamdani, Commissioner Levine and Chair Epstein for their vision.”
Further Reading
Substack by Winston Berkman-Breen and Mike Pierce of Protect Borrowers on the introduction of the POWER Act: Law Enforcement, Democracy, and America’s Mayor
NYC coalition advisory for a pro-POWER Act rally: Consumers, Workers, Tenants, and Small Businesses Rally at City Hall in Support of POWER Act
Protect Borrowers and The Century Foundation ‘Affordable NYC Now’ compendium: https://protectborrowers.org/resource/affordable-nyc-now/
City Hall’s announcement of the POWER Act: Mayor Mamdani to Introduce POWER Act Allowing New Yorkers to Sue Predatory Corporations for Unfair Business Practices
New York Times reporting on the POWER Act: Mamdani Backs Bill to Let Consumers Sue Over Unfair Business Practices
Crain’s New York Business reporting on the POWER Act: Mamdani-backed bill would expand who can sue NY businesses for unfair practices
###
About Protect Borrowers
Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) is a nonprofit organization led by a team of experts, lawyers, and advocates fighting to build an economy where debt doesn’t limit opportunity. We investigate financial abuses, take predatory companies to court, and push for policies to protect working people from debt traps. We aim to deliver immediate relief to families while building power, driving systemic change, and fighting for racial and economic justice.
Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow us on social @BorrowerJustice.
About The Century Foundation
The Century Foundation (TCF) is a progressive, independent think tank that conducts research, develops solutions, and drives policy change to make people’s lives better. We pursue economic, racial, gender, and disability equity in education, health care, and work, and promote U.S. foreign policy that fosters international cooperation, peace, and security. TCF is based in New York, with an office in Washington, D.C. Follow the organization on Twitter at @TCFdotorg and learn more at www.tcf.org.