§ 442-e. Violations. 1. Misdemeanors; triable in court of special
sessions. Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor. The commission of a single act prohibited by
this article shall constitute a violation hereof. All courts of special
sessions, within their respective territorial jurisdictions, are hereby
empowered to hear, try and determine such crimes, without indictment,
and to impose the punishments prescribed by law therefor.

2. Attorney general to prosecute. Criminal actions for violations of
this article shall be prosecuted by the attorney general, or his deputy,
in the name of the people of the state, and in any such prosecution the
attorney general, or his deputy, shall exercise all the powers and
perform all the duties which the district attorney would otherwise be
authorized to exercise or to perform therein. The attorney general
shall, upon a conviction for a violation of any provision of this
article, and within ten days thereafter, make and file with the
department of state a detailed report showing the date of such
conviction, the name of the person convicted and the exact nature of the
charge.

3. Penalty recoverable by person aggrieved. In case the offender shall
have received any sum of money as commission, compensation or profit by
or in consequence of his violation of any provision of this article, he
shall also be liable to a penalty of not less than the amount of the sum
of money received by him as such commission, compensation or profit and
not more than four times the sum so received by him, as may be
determined by the court, which penalty may be sued for and recovered by
any person aggrieved and for his use and benefit, in any court of
competent jurisdiction.

4. In any prosecution under this article, any person, firm or
corporation who, for another, performs or offers to perform or attempts
or offers to attempt, the performance of any one of the acts set forth
in section four hundred forty of this article, shall be presumed to do
so for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, but such
presumption shall not arise out of a single transaction, except upon
proof of repeated and successive acts, offers or attempts of a like
nature.

5. The secretary of state shall have the power to enforce the
provisions of this article and upon complaint of any person, or on their
own initiative, to investigate any violation thereof or to investigate
the business, business practices and business methods of any person,
firm or corporation applying for or holding a license as a real estate
broker or salesperson, if in the opinion of the secretary of state such
investigation is warranted. Each such applicant or licensee shall be
obliged, on request of the secretary of state, to supply such
information as may be required concerning their or its business,
business practices or business methods, or proposed business practices
or methods.

6. For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this article and in
making investigations relating to any violation thereof, and for the
purpose of investigating the character, competency and integrity of the
applicants or licensees hereunder, and for the purpose of investigating
the business, business practices and business methods of any applicant
or licensee, or of the officers or agents thereof, the department of
state, acting by such officer or person in the department as the
secretary of state may designate, shall have the power to subpoena and
bring before the officer or person so designated any person in this
state and require the production of any books or papers which he deems
relevant to the inquiry and administer an oath to and take testimony of
any person or cause his deposition to be taken with the same fees and
mileage and in the same manner as prescribed by law for civil cases in a
court of record, except that any applicant or licensee or officer or
agent thereof shall not be entitled to such fees and/or mileage. Any
person, duly subpoenaed, who fails to obey such subpoena without
reasonable cause or without such cause refuses to be examined or to
answer any legal or pertinent question as to the character or
qualification of such applicant or licensee or such applicant's or
licensee's business, business practices and methods or such violations,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

7. In any criminal proceeding before any court or grand jury, or upon
any investigation before the department of state for a violation of any
of the provisions of this section, the court or grand jury, or the
secretary of state, his deputy or other officer conducting the
investigation, may confer immunity, in accordance with the provisions of
section 50.20 or 190.40 of the criminal procedure law.

8. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, with respect to
violations of section four hundred forty-two-h of this article, the
secretary of state is authorized, upon the complaint of any person or on
his or her own initiative, to investigate and prosecute violations of
the provisions of such section by persons not licensed pursuant to this
article and may impose a fine not exceeding one hundred fifty dollars
for the first violation, not exceeding five hundred dollars for a second
violation, and not exceeding one thousand dollars for a third and each
subsequent violation. The attorney general, acting on behalf of the
secretary of state, may commence an action or proceeding in a court of
competent jurisdiction to obtain a judgment against such unlicensed
person in an amount equal to that imposed as a fine.