That the Attorney General has standing to institute an action under General Obligations Law § 7-105 for a violation does not,{**12 AD3d at 93} in and of itself, defeat the existence of a private right of action. Indeed, in another context the right of the Attorney General to enforce a statute and the right of an individual aggrieved to bring a private action have been found to coexist (see e.g. Goshen v Mutual Life Ins. Co. of N.Y., 98 NY2d 314 [2002]). In this regard, the Legislature could not have intended that the Attorney General be involved in every landlord/tenant security dispute throughout the state; nor could it have intended that the Attorney General monitor the transfer of security deposits from one landlord to another. Were that the case, the budget and staff of that office would be so burdened as to nullify the legislative scheme, ultimately resulting in the loss by successor landlords and tenants of security deposits in the hands of former landlords.
Pointing to the penal nature of the statute's origins (L 1924, ch 625), making it a misdemeanor for a landlord, who, upon the sale or transfer of the property, fails to turn over security or rent deposits (former Penal Law § 1302-a),[FN2]