On July 18, 2021, New York City enacted Local Law 80 of 2021, which repeals the licensing requirement for retail laundries. This repeal went into effect on December 31, 2021.
Beginning last December, a retail laundry license from the city’s Department of Consumer & Worker Protection is no longer necessary to operate a retail laundry business. Because the license is no longer required, the DCWP is not accepting new or renewal license applications.
Although retail laundry business owners no longer need a license to run their laundries, they are still required to comply with other laws that the DCWP enforces, including:
- Your business’ bills, tickets, business cards, advertising and stationery must list your business name and address.
- Every document that contains charges to a consumer must accurately and clearly state each of the laundry charges, not just the total charge.
- All vehicles used for delivery of laundry must include the business’ name, address and telephone number in letters at least 2 inches in height.
- You must post a price list where orders are placed or payments are made by consumers.
Your price list must contain a list of services offered, the minimum price charged for each service, and a description of any factors that may cause the price to be higher than the minimum. Your price list must not contain different prices for men and women for the same services. - If scales are used to weigh laundry on the premises, each scale must have a DCWP seal and must be inspected annually.
- If the business offers self-service laundry machines to the general public, an attendant must be on site from 8:00 p.m. until closing or 6:00 a.m. the following day (whichever is earlier), and you must post a sign in a location that is clearly visible to consumers stating to whom complaints and claims for refunds can be made.
Please note that the city still requires licenses for industrial laundry and industrial laundry delivery businesses. This license repeal applies strictly to retail laundries.
