Bill Text: NY S03047 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to prohibiting the issuance of late fees prior to a finding of liability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION [S03047 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03047-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3047 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 1, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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 the issuance of late fees prior to a finding of liability for a park- ing violation; and repealing certain provisions of such law relating thereto 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 2 of section 235 of the vehicle 2 and traffic law, as amended by section 18 of part J of chapter 62 of the 3 laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows: 4 a. Notice. (1) Whenever a city issues a notice of violation for a 5 parking violation, it shall be served in the manner prescribed by subdi- 6 vision two of section two hundred thirty-eight of this article. 7 (2) Whenever a person has been issued a notice of violation for a 8 parking violation and has not responded in the manner described in the 9 notice, a city shall give the owner a second notice of the violation by 10 regular first class mail: (i) within forty days of issuance of the first 11 notice of violation for a parking violation where the vehicle is a vehi- 12 cle registered in this state; or (ii) within forty days of the receipt 13 by such city of the name and address of the owner of the vehicle where 14 the vehicle is a vehicle registered in any other state. Such second 15 notice shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: 16 (A) that the owner has a period of twenty days from issuance of the 17 second notice in which to respond to the notice of violation for a park- 18 ing violation; 19 (B) that failure to respond to the notice of violation for a parking 20 violation may result in the suspension and non-renewal of the owner's 21 registration; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09143-01-9S. 3047 2 1 (C) [that failure to respond to the notice of violation for a parking2violation may subject the owner to additional penalties as provided in3paragraph b of this subdivision;4(D)] that failure to respond to the notice of violation for a parking 5 violation shall subject the owner to a default judgment as provided in 6 paragraph [c] b of this subdivision [and the additional penalties7imposed upon parking violations pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivi-8sion]; and 9 [(E)] (D) that submission of a plea of guilty to the parking violation 10 makes the owner liable for payment of the stated fine [and additional11penalties imposed pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision] and the 12 mandatory surcharge of fifteen dollars imposed upon parking violations 13 pursuant to section eighteen hundred nine-a of this chapter. 14 (1) Upon written application of the chief executive officer of any 15 such city, the commissioner may authorize for a specified time period 16 the use of a notice mailer form that does not contain all the informa- 17 tion set forth in this subdivision but which was used by such city on or 18 before the effective date of this section. 19 (2) In addition, the commissioner may suspend for a period not to 20 exceed one year from the effective date of this section the provisions 21 of this subdivision requiring that a second notice of violation be 22 served within forty days of issuance of the first notice of a parking 23 violation, upon written application of the chief executive officer of 24 any such city demonstrating that immediate imposition of such notice 25 requirement will cause substantial financial hardship to such city, and 26 setting forth the steps to be taken by such city to achieve compliance 27 with the notice requirements of this subdivision at the end of such one 28 hundred eighty day period. Upon granting such application, the commis- 29 sioner shall specify a period, not to exceed seventy-five days, within 30 which such second notice must be served[, and shall adjust accordingly31the time periods set forth in paragraph b of this subdivision to provide32that the additional penalties set forth in such subdivision will not be33imposed prior to the stated number of days from the service of such34notice]. 35 § 2. Paragraphs b, b-1, b-2 and b-3 of subdivision 2 of section 235 of 36 the vehicle and traffic law are REPEALED and paragraph c of subdivision 37 2 is relettered paragraph b. 38 § 3. Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2-a of section 39 238 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 409 of the laws 40 of 2001, is amended to read as follows: 41 (iii) Upon a finding by a hearing examiner that the dismissal of a 42 charged parking violation has been procured due to the knowing fraud, 43 false testimony, misrepresentation, or other misconduct, or the knowing 44 alteration of a notice of parking violation, by the person so charged or 45 his or her agent, employee, or representative, the dismissal shall be 46 set aside and a determination may be rendered against the owner on the 47 charged parking violation. The hearing examiner may impose monetary 48 penalties for the charged parking violation of up to three times the 49 scheduled fine for the violation [and three times the additional penal-50ties that may be imposed for failure to respond to a notice of violation51pursuant to section two hundred thirty-five of this article. For52purposes of determining the amount of such additional penalties, the53hearing examiner shall disregard the plea that procured the dismissal54that has been set aside and shall calculate such penalties as if there55had been no plea or appearance in the proceeding]. In any proceeding 56 under this paragraph to set aside a determination and to impose penal-S. 3047 3 1 ties for the violation, it shall not be necessary for the hearing exam- 2 iner to find that the owner personally committed the unlawful acts that 3 procured the dismissal of the violation. 4 § 4. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 5 238-a to read as follows: 6 § 238-a. Prohibition of certain late fees. Notwithstanding any incon- 7 sistent provision of this article, or any general, special, or local law 8 or administrative code to the contrary, an owner shall not be subject to 9 additional penalties for failure to respond to a notice of violation but 10 only, in the event such owner is found liable for such violation, fail- 11 ure to pay the imposed fine in a timely fashion. 12 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however that 13 the amendments to subdivision 2 of section 235 of the vehicle and traf- 14 fic law made by sections one and two of this act, shall not affect the 15 expiration of such subdivision and shall be deemed to expire therewith.