Fraudulently obtaining a signature · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 165.20 Fraudulently obtaining a signature.
A person is guilty of fraudulently obtaining a signature when, with intent to defraud or injure another or to acquire a substantial benefit for himself or a third person, he obtains the signature of a person to a written instrument by means of any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to be false.
Fraudulently obtaining a signature is a class A misdemeanor.
A person fraudulently obtains a signature by getting someone’s signature on a written instrument through a factual misrepresentation known to be false, intending to defraud or injure another or obtain a substantial benefit for anyone. ★ It is a class A misdemeanor.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.