STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2737
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 29, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. KAPLAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to prohibiting
certain entities from engaging in the business of securing motor vehi-
cle registrations or giving instructions as to procuring motor vehicle
registrations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 395 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by
2 chapter 124 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 395. Certain private service bureaus to be licensed. Except as
4 otherwise provided herein, no person, firm, association or corporation
5 shall, engage in the business of assisting for hire in securing licenses
6 to drive motor vehicles or registrations or titles of motor vehicles,
7 nor shall any person, firm, association or corporation for compensation
8 give instructions as to procuring licenses to drive motor vehicles or
9 registrations or titles of motor vehicles, without being the holder of a
10 license for such purpose issued by the commissioner of motor vehicles.
11 An applicant for a license shall furnish the commissioner with such
12 information and such references as to moral character as he may reason-
13 ably require. Every application shall be accompanied by a fee of twen-
14 ty-five dollars, which shall be regarded as an application fee and shall
15 in no event be refunded. If an application be approved by the commis-
16 sioner, the applicant upon the payment of an additional fee of twenty-
17 five dollars shall be granted a license which shall expire on the thir-
18 tieth day of June following the date of its issuance. The commissioner
19 shall issue a license certificate to each licensee which certificate
20 shall be conspicuously displayed in the place of business of the licen-
21 see, or, if the licensee has no place of business, such certificates
22 shall be exhibited at the request of any person. In case of the loss,
23 mutilation or destruction of a certificate, the commissioner shall issue
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02838-02-9
S. 2737 2
1 a duplicate upon proof of the facts and the payment of a fee of one
2 dollar. The refusal to issue a license may be reviewed by a proceeding
3 under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. Such
4 license shall be renewed annually upon the payment of a fee of twenty-
5 five dollars, such renewal to take effect on the first day of July in
6 each year. Upon renewal, the commissioner may, in his discretion, issue
7 a license which shall be valid for a two year period. The fee for any
8 such two year renewal shall be fifty dollars.
9 No license shall be issued under this section nor shall any renewal of
10 a license issued under this section be made for conducting business in a
11 city having a population of fifty thousand or more, according to the
12 latest federal census if the place of business of the licensee, or
13 branch thereof, is within fifteen hundred feet of a building, owned or
14 leased by the state, a county or a city, in which motor vehicle regis-
15 trations or licenses to drive motor vehicles are issued to the public.
16 The said distance of fifteen hundred feet shall be measured along the
17 public streets by the nearest route from such place of business, or
18 branch thereof, to such building. The provisions of this paragraph shall
19 not apply to a holder of a certificate of registration issued pursuant
20 to section four hundred fifteen of this chapter.
21 No license shall be issued under this section nor shall any renewal of
22 a license issued under this section be made for a person, firm, associ-
23 ation or corporation who engages in the business of assisting for hire
24 in securing motor vehicle registrations or who, for compensation, give
25 instructions as to procuring motor vehicle registrations. The provisions
26 of this paragraph shall not apply to a holder of a license issued pursu-
27 ant to section three hundred ninety-four of this article or the holder
28 of a certificate of registration issued pursuant to section four hundred
29 fifteen of this chapter.
30 A licensee shall be subject to such reasonable regulations concerning
31 the business conducted under his license as the commissioner may
32 prescribe and he shall permit the commissioner, or his representatives,
33 to inspect his place of business on any business day and shall furnish
34 to the commissioner, or his representative, such information concerning
35 the conduct of the business as may be reasonably required.
36 The provisions of subdivisions five and six of section three hundred
37 ninety-four of this [chapter] article shall be applicable with respect
38 to this section.
39 The holder of a license issued pursuant to section three hundred nine-
40 ty-four of this [chapter] article or the holder of a certificate of
41 registration issued pursuant to section four hundred fifteen of this
42 chapter shall not be required to secure a license under this section in
43 order to conduct a business for which a license is required by this
44 section but any such licensee, or registrant, who shall conduct such
45 business, shall be subject to the same visitation and regulation by the
46 commissioner with reference to such business as provided in this section
47 with respect to a licensee under this section.
48 As used in this section the phrase "licenses to drive motor vehicles"
49 includes the term "learners' permits".
50 A violation of any of the provisions of this section shall constitute
51 a misdemeanor.
52 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.