Bill Text: NJ A818 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies that motor vehicle rental companies may recover, through a "vehicle registration recovery fee" separately stated in rental agreement, certain costs of doing business.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Regulated Professions Committee [A818 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A818-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies that motor vehicle rental companies may recover, through a "vehicle registration recovery fee" separately stated in rental agreement, certain costs of doing business.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning motor vehicle rental fees and supplementing P.L.1994, c.190 (C.56:12-60 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. For the purposes of this act:
"Motor vehicle rental company" means any business entity or person engaged in renting motor vehicles to retail customers under rental agreements for periods of 90 days or less; and
"Vehicle registration recovery fee" means a fee that, pursuant to subsection b. of this section, is charged by a motor vehicle rental company to recover the cost to the company of paying motor vehicle titling fees and charges, motor vehicle registration and inspection fees, and any motor vehicle licensing fee.
b. In the case of any motor vehicle rental transaction originating in this State, a motor vehicle rental company may provide in the rental agreement for the recovery, through a separate "vehicle registration recovery fee" specifically identified as such, of costs paid or incurred by the company in the form of motor vehicle titling fees and charges, motor vehicle registration and inspection fees, and motor vehicle licensing fees, including any fees paid by the company to obtain license plates for the company's motor vehicle fleet. The amount of any such vehicle registration recovery fee shall (1) be stated as a separate, itemized charge in the rental agreement and in any bill rendered to the customer under the agreement, and (2) represent the motor vehicle rental company's good-faith estimate of the proportional part of all motor vehicle titling fees and charges, motor vehicle registration and inspection fees, and motor vehicle licensing fees, paid or payable by the company during the calendar year in which the agreement was executed, that is attributable to the rental covered by the agreement. Any vehicle registration recovery fee imposed under a motor vehicle rental agreement pursuant to this subsection shall be collected in accordance with the terms of the rental agreement.
The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a motor vehicle rental company from imposing a separate surcharge or surcharges under the rental agreement to recover other costs paid or incurred by the company, including, but not limited to, a surcharge to recover the cost of business licensing fees, New Jersey Domestic Security Account fees, airport access fees, airport concession fees, and applicable taxes; provided, however, that any such surcharge to recover those other costs shall not be included as part of any vehicle registration recovery fee.
c. A motor vehicle rental company imposing a vehicle registration recovery fee under subsection b. of this section shall disclose the existence of the surcharge in any advertisement published in the State that contains a rental rate.
2. If, in a calendar year, the total amount of all vehicle registration recovery fees collected by a motor vehicle rental company under section 1 of this act shall exceed the company's actual expenditure in that calendar year for motor vehicle titling fees and charges, motor vehicle registration and inspection fees, and motor vehicle licensing fees, the company shall:
a. Retain the excess amount; and
b. Adjust the rate of the surcharge for the following calendar year by an amount proportional to the amount of the excess relative to the amount of the actual expenditure.
3. This act shall take effect immediately, but sections 1 and 2 shall be inoperative until the first day of the third month after enactment. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety may take such anticipatory action in advance of that date as may be necessary for the timely implementation of this act upon the date on which it becomes operative.
STATEMENT
This bill would clarify that it is a lawful practice under the "Consumer Protection Leasing Act" for a motor vehicle rental company to collect, from customers renting a vehicle, a "vehicle registration recovery fee" to recover the costs paid or incurred by the company for the titling, registration, inspection, and licensing of its motor vehicles. The bill requires that the amount of the vehicle registration recovery fee shall be separately stated in the rental contract, and shall be imposed at a rate reflecting the proportional part of all titling, registration, inspection, and licensing fees, paid or payable by the company during the calendar year in which the agreement was executed, that is attributable to the rental covered by the agreement. If, in a calendar year, the total amount of vehicle registration recovery fee revenue collected by the company exceeds its actual expenditure in that year for the pertinent fees and charges, the company is required under the bill to adjust the rate of the recovery fee for the following calendar year in proportion to the amount of the excess.
