§ 5-337. Agreements requiring contractees to waive their rights in
relation to expressing certain opinions about contractors void and
unenforceable. 1. (a) A contract or proposed contract for the sale or
lease of consumer goods or services may not include a provision waiving
the consumer's right to make any statement regarding the seller or
lessor or its employees or agents, or concerning the goods or services.

(b) It shall be unlawful to threaten or to seek to enforce a provision
made unlawful under this section, or to otherwise penalize a consumer
for making any statement protected under this section.

2. Any waiver of the provisions of this section is contrary to public
policy, and is void and unenforceable.

3. Any person or entity that violates this section shall be subject to
a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for the
first violation, and five thousand dollars for the second and for each
subsequent violation, to be assessed and collected in a civil action
brought by the consumer or by the attorney general. In addition, for a
willful or intentional violation of this section, a consumer or the
attorney general may recover a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand
dollars. Under this section, when the civil action is brought by the
consumer, the civil penalty shall be payable to the consumer and when
the civil action is brought by the attorney general, such civil penalty
shall be payable to the state.

4. The penalty provided by this section is not an exclusive remedy,
and does not affect any other relief or remedy provided by law. This
section shall not be construed to prohibit or limit a person or business
that hosts online consumer reviews or comments from removing a statement
that is otherwise lawful to remove.