The portion of any printed contract or agreement involving a consumer transaction or a lease for space to be occupied for residential purposes where the print is not clear and legible or is less than eight points in depth or five and one-half points in depth for upper case type may not be received in evidence in any trial, hearing or proceeding on behalf of the party who printed or prepared such contract or agreement, or who caused said agreement or contract to be printed or prepared. As used in the immediately preceding sentence, the term “consumer transaction” means a transaction wherein the money, property or service which is the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family or household purposes. No provision of any contract or agreement waiving the provisions of this section shall be effective. The provisions of this section shall not apply to agreements or contracts entered into prior to the effective date of this section.
§ 4544.Contracts in small print.
Article 45. Evidence · Last amended 1979 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 4544 blocks the party who printed or prepared a consumer contract or residential lease from using it in court if the key print is smaller than eight points, five and a half points for capital letters, and no contract clause can waive that protection.
Full Text of CPLR 4544
Plain-English Summary
Fine print has earned its bad reputation, and CPLR 4544 gives it a legal consequence. When a printed contract or agreement covers a consumer transaction, one where the money, property, or service involved is mainly for personal, family, or household use, or a residential lease, the portion of the document printed smaller than eight points (or five and a half points for capital letters) cannot be received in evidence. That bar falls only on the side who printed or prepared the document, or had it printed or prepared, which in practice means the business or landlord, not the consumer or tenant.
The statute closes off one workaround a drafting party might try: no contract provision waiving this protection has any effect, no matter how the drafting party words it. A business cannot buy its way out of the type-size requirement by adding a clause saying the consumer agreed to accept small print.
The rule is not retroactive, it reaches only agreements entered into after its effective date, and it does not ban small print outright. It only keeps the drafting party from using undersized print against the other side in litigation, leaving the type-size choice with a real cost attached.
Frequently Asked Questions
What print size does CPLR 4544 require in a consumer contract?
Print must be at least eight points in depth, or five and a half points for capital letters, or the drafting party cannot use that portion of the contract as evidence.
Can a company enforce a waiver of the small-print rule?
No. CPLR 4544 states that no contract provision waiving the section has any effect, regardless of how it is worded.
Does this rule protect the consumer or the business that drafted the contract?
It protects the consumer or tenant. Only the party who printed, prepared, or caused the printing or preparation of the contract is barred from using the undersized print as evidence.
Does CPLR 4544 apply to commercial contracts between two businesses?
No, it applies to consumer transactions, where the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and to residential leases.
Does CPLR 4544 apply to contracts signed years before the statute took effect?
No, the statute applies only to agreements or contracts entered into on or after its effective date.
Amendment History
Add, L 1975, ch 370, § 1; amd, L 1979, ch 474, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1979.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: fine print contract unenforceable New Yorksmall print lease not admissible evidenceconsumer contract print size law New Yorkeight point font requirement CPLR