The New York Freelance Isn't Free Act, explained.

Two laws, one name: NYC 2017 vs. New York State 2024.

NYC ADMIN. CODE § 20-927 ET SEQ. · NY GEN. BUS. LAW ART. 44-A

New York City passed the original Freelance Isn't Free Act in 2017 (Local Law 140 of 2016, NYC Administrative Code § 20-927 and following), covering work performed for hiring parties in the five boroughs. In 2024, New York State enacted its own version as Article 44-A of the General Business Law, effective August 28, 2024. The statewide Act extends nearly identical protections to freelancers everywhere in New York: Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Long Island, Westchester, everywhere. If you searched for this law and found articles that only mention NYC and the year 2017, you were reading about the old, narrower law.

Who is covered.

A "freelance worker" is a person (or a one-person organization) hired as an independent contractor to provide services in exchange for compensation. The Act applies once the contract is worth $800 or more, either by itself or when added to all other contracts between you and the same hiring party during the immediately preceding 120 days. Designers, writers, developers, photographers, consultants, marketers, editors, tutors: if you invoice clients as a 1099 contractor, this is your statute. Certain categories are excluded, including sales representatives covered by other law, attorneys, licensed medical professionals, and construction contractors.

What the Act requires.

• A written contract. The hiring party must provide one, stating the parties' names and addresses, an itemization of the services, the rate and method of pay, and the date payment is due.
• Timely payment. Payment is due by the date in the contract, or if no date is stated, no later than 30 days after the work is completed.
• No haircuts on the way out. Once you have started performing, the client cannot demand you accept less than the agreed fee as a condition of paying you on time.
• No retaliation. Threatening, blacklisting, or penalizing a freelancer for exercising rights under the Act is itself a violation.

What you can recover.

This is the part that changes a nonpaying client's math. In a civil action, a freelancer who was not paid on time can be entitled to the unpaid amount plus an equal amount as double damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs paid by the hiring party. A client who refused a written contract when you requested one can owe statutory damages of $250, and when the missing contract accompanies other violations, damages equal to the value of the contract itself. A pattern of violations can expose a hiring party to a civil penalty in an action brought by the Attorney General. Under the fee-shifting provision, a client who stalls on a $3,000 invoice is risking $6,000 plus your legal fees plus their own. That is why attorney demand letters citing this Act get answered.

How to enforce it.

You have options, and they are not mutually exclusive in sequence:

• An attorney demand letter. Usually the fastest and cheapest first move. A letter that cites the Act, tallies the doubled exposure and fee-shifting, and sets a deadline often produces payment in weeks. See what goes into a Freelance Isn't Free Act demand letter.
• An administrative complaint. Statewide, complaints go to the New York State Attorney General; in NYC, to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. See how the complaint route works and when a letter is faster.
• A lawsuit. In small claims or civil court. See demand letter vs. small claims in New York.

Common situations, answered in depth.

• My client won't pay me. What do I do, step by step?
• I never got a written contract. Am I out of luck? (Short answer: no. The missing contract is the client's violation, not yours.)
• What an attorney demand letter under the Act contains
• Filing a complaint with the state instead of suing
• Owed money as a small business rather than a freelancer?

Deadlines.

Claims under the Act are subject to statutes of limitations, and the periods differ by violation type; the window to sue over a missing written contract is shorter than the window for nonpayment claims. The safe rule is the one that governs every collection matter: the older the debt, the colder it gets. Move while the emails are fresh and the client still answers the phone.

Who we help, specifically.

The Act protects every covered freelancer, but the disputes cluster by trade, so we wrote the playbooks by trade: photographers and videographers, graphic and web designers, and consultants, developers, and fractional professionals. If you sell on commission rather than by invoice, see unpaid sales commissions.

The numbers and the clock.

What nonpayment actually costs a client: double damages, attorney's fees, contract-value damages for the missing writing: is itemized in penalties and damages under the Act. How long you have to act (six years for nonpayment, two for contract-requirement claims) is mapped in unpaid invoice deadlines in New York.