N.Y. AG Schneiderman settles with Tinny Beauty

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a settlement on Thursday with Tinny Beauty Inc. and two of its officers to resolve allegations that the school misled students seeking to become licensed nail specialists.

Under the terms of the settlement, Tinny, Lydia Leung and Alex Cheung must pay at least $350 in restitution to individuals who surrendered licenses or had licenses revoked, denied or not renewed by the New York Department of State after receiving signed schooling affirmations from Tinny. Tinny must also pay $25,000 in penalties, fees and costs.

"During these challenging economic times, hardworking New Yorkers should have the ability to create economic opportunities for themselves by pursuing the education and professional licenses required to make a living," Schneiderman said. "My office has zero tolerance to people who prey on struggling families by deceiving them about license requirements."

Tinny operates Tinny Beauty International School, a non-degree proprietary school offering classes in nails, cosmetology, permanent makeup and related classes. Tinny allegedly provided false and misleading information to hundreds of consumers to get them to pay fees to become licensed nail specialists in New York while failing to provide the necessary courses and training. Tinny and its officers allegedly lied on nail specialty license applications by saying that applicants completed at least 250 hours of training at Tinny School when they had not.

More than 100 nail specialists who attended Tinny School had their licenses revoked or denied by the DOS. Individuals must be licensed by the DOS to provide appearance enhancement services in New York.

Tinny and its principals also agreed to comply with all New York State Education Department regulations and guidelines, not make future misrepresentations about the licensure process and not sign affirmations on DOS appearance enhancement applications if the applicant did not take the required amount of hours at Tinny School.