Bill Text: NY S02394 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishes criteria for notice to be filed and served when done by electronic means in a city having a population of more than one million; provides for an application for leave to serve a late notice.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-05-11 - RECOMMIT, ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN [S02394 Detail]

Download: New_York-2009-S02394-Introduced.html
                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2394
                              2009-2010 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                   February 19, 2009
                                      ___________
       Introduced by Sens. DeFRANCISCO, VOLKER -- read twice and ordered print-
         ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
       AN  ACT  to amend the general municipal law, in relation to establishing
         criteria for notice of claim to be filed and served when done by elec-
         tronic means in a city having a population of over one million
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.  Paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision  3 of section 50-e of the
    2  general municipal law, as amended by chapter 745 of the laws of 1976, is
    3  amended and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:
    4    (a) The notice shall be served on the public corporation against which
    5  the claim is made by delivering a copy thereof personally, or by  regis-
    6  tered  or certified mail, to the person designated by law as one to whom
    7  a summons in an action in the supreme court issued against  such  corpo-
    8  ration  may be delivered, or to an attorney regularly engaged in repres-
    9  enting such public corporation OR, IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION  OF  OVER
   10  ONE MILLION, BY ELECTRONIC MEANS IN A FORM AND MANNER PRESCRIBED BY SUCH
   11  CITY.
   12    (E)  IF  THE NOTICE IS SERVED BY ELECTRONIC MEANS, AS DEFINED IN PARA-
   13  GRAPH TWO OF SUBDIVISION (F) OF RULE TWENTY-ONE  HUNDRED  THREE  OF  THE
   14  CIVIL  PRACTICE LAW AND RULES, IT SHALL CONTAIN THE INFORMATION REQUIRED
   15  UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS  SECTION.  IN  ADDITION,
   16  SUCH NOTICE SHALL CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION: "I CERTIFY THAT ALL
   17  INFORMATION  CONTAINED IN THIS NOTICE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF
   18  MY KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE  WILLFUL  MAKING  OF  ANY
   19  FALSE  STATEMENT  OF  MATERIAL  FACT  HEREIN WILL SUBJECT ME TO CRIMINAL
   20  PENALTIES AND CIVIL LIABILITIES."    SERVICE  OF  THE  NOTICE  SHALL  BE
   21  COMPLETE  UPON  SUCCESSFUL TRANSMISSION OF THE NOTICE AS INDICATED BY AN
   22  ELECTRONIC RECEIPT PROVIDED BY SUCH CITY, WHICH SHALL TRANSMIT AN  ELEC-
   23  TRONIC RECEIPT NUMBER TO THE CLAIMANT FORTHWITH.
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD01596-01-9
       S. 2394                             2
    1    S  2.  Subdivision  5 of section 50-e of the general municipal law, as
    2  amended by chapter 745 of the laws  of  1976,  is  amended  to  read  as
    3  follows:
    4    5. Application for leave to serve a late notice.
    5    Upon application, the court, in its discretion, may extend the time to
    6  serve a notice of claim specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision one OF
    7  THIS  SECTION.  The  extension shall not exceed the time limited for the
    8  commencement of an action by the  claimant  against  the  public  corpo-
    9  ration.  In  determining whether to grant the extension, the court shall
   10  consider, in particular, whether the public corporation or its  attorney
   11  or  its  insurance  carrier  acquired  actual knowledge of the essential
   12  facts constituting the claim within the time  specified  in  subdivision
   13  one  OF  THIS  SECTION or within a reasonable time thereafter. The court
   14  shall also consider all other relevant facts and circumstances,  includ-
   15  ing: whether the claimant was an infant, or mentally or physically inca-
   16  pacitated,  or died before the time limited for service of the notice of
   17  claim; whether the claimant failed to serve a timely notice of claim  by
   18  reason  of his justifiable reliance upon settlement representations made
   19  by an authorized representative of the public corporation or its  insur-
   20  ance  carrier; whether the claimant in serving a notice of claim made an
   21  excusable error  concerning  the  identity  of  the  public  corporation
   22  against  which the claim should be asserted; IF SERVICE OF THE NOTICE OF
   23  CLAIM IS ATTEMPTED BY ELECTRONIC MEANS  PURSUANT  TO  PARAGRAPH  (E)  OF
   24  SUBDIVISION  THREE  OF  THIS  SECTION,  WHETHER THE DELAY IN SERVING THE
   25  NOTICE OF CLAIM WAS BASED UPON THE FAILURE OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM OF THE
   26  CITY OR THE CLAIMANT OR THE ATTORNEY  REPRESENTING  THE  CLAIMANT;  THAT
   27  SUCH  CLAIMANT  OR  ATTORNEY,  AS THE CASE MAY BE, SUBMITTED EVIDENCE OR
   28  PROOF AS IS REASONABLE SHOWING THAT (I) THE SUBMISSION OF THE CLAIM  WAS
   29  ATTEMPTED  TO  BE  ELECTRONICALLY MADE IN A TIMELY MANNER AND WOULD HAVE
   30  BEEN COMPLETED BUT FOR THE FAILURE OF THE COMPUTER  SYSTEM  UTILIZED  BY
   31  THE  SENDER  OR RECIPIENT, AND (II) THAT UPON BECOMING AWARE OF BOTH THE
   32  FAILURE OF SUCH SYSTEM AND THE FAILURE  OF  THE  CITY  TO  RECEIVE  SUCH
   33  SUBMISSION,  THE CLAIMANT OR ATTORNEY HAD INSUFFICIENT TIME TO MAKE SUCH
   34  CLAIM WITHIN  THE  PERMITTED  TIME  PERIOD  IN  A  MANNER  AS  OTHERWISE
   35  PRESCRIBED  BY LAW; and whether the delay in serving the notice of claim
   36  substantially prejudiced  the  public  corporation  in  maintaining  its
   37  defense on the merits.
   38    An application for leave to serve a late notice shall not be denied on
   39  the  ground that it was made after commencement of an action against the
   40  public corporation.
   41    S 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
   42  it shall have become a law.
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