Requires review of all motor vehicle repair shop applicants which includes community input; establishes a list of factors that shall be considered when making such decisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3699
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ALVAREZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
review of all motor vehicle repair shop applicants which includes
community input
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 398-c of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
3 2-a. Additional requirements for transfers and renewals. The commis-
4 sioner shall consider the following factors in determining whether to
5 approve an applicant's transfer or renewal of a certificate of registra-
6 tion for the operation of a motor vehicle repair shop in the city of New
7 York, in addition to such other factors they deem material to such
8 renewal:
9 (i) any history of violations of this article, history of parking
10 violations, or parking-related building code violations;
11 (ii) complaints from the community board or boards established pursu-
12 ant to section twenty-eight hundred of the New York city charter with
13 jurisdiction over the area in which the premises is located;
14 (iii) proof of notification to such community board or boards as
15 required under section three hundred ninety-eight-j of this article;
16 (iv) opinions for or against the approval of such transfer or renewal
17 provided by the relevant community board within thirty-five days of
18 receiving notice pursuant to section three hundred ninety-eight-j of
19 this article;
20 (v) the effect of the applicant on vehicular traffic and parking in
21 proximity to the location of the repair shop; and
22 (vi) any other factors specified by law or regulation that are rele-
23 vant to determine the public convenience and advantage, and public
24 interest of the community.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01420-01-5
A. 3699 2
1 § 2. Paragraphs (k), (l) and the closing paragraph of subdivision 1 of
2 section 398-e of the vehicle and traffic law, paragraph (k) as amended
3 and paragraph (l) as added by chapter 527 of the laws of 2021, the clos-
4 ing paragraph as amended by chapter 634 of the laws of 1980, are amended
5 and a new paragraph (m) is added to read as follows:
6 (k) has engaged in a course of conduct which unreasonably impedes or
7 delays a consumer's right to a fair recovery pursuant to the provisions
8 of an automobile insurance policy, the insurance law or regulations
9 issued by the superintendent of financial services governing the evalu-
10 ation and adjustments of claims; [or]
11 (l) has wilfully violated paragraph (b) of subdivision thirty-one,
12 subdivision thirty-one-a or subdivision thirty-one-b of section three
13 hundred seventy-five of this [chapter.] title; or
14 (m) has engaged in a course of conduct that includes multiple parking
15 violations or failed to cure two or more parking-related code violations
16 in the city of New York.
17 For the purposes of paragraphs (g), (h), (i), (j) [and] , (k) and (m)
18 of this subdivision, it shall be presumed that the actions of any
19 employee of a motor vehicle repair shop shall be attributable to, and
20 deemed to be the actions of, such motor vehicle repair shop.
21 § 3. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
22 398-j to read as follows:
23 § 398-j. Notification to municipalities. 1. Not less than forty-five
24 days before filing for an application to transfer or renew a certificate
25 of registration for a repair shop that is located in the city of New
26 York, an applicant shall notify such city of their intent to file such
27 an application with certified mail or electronic mail.
28 2. Such notification shall be made to the community board established
29 pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred of the New York city charter
30 with jurisdiction over the area in which the premises is located.
31 3. The commissioner shall require such notification to be on a stand-
32 ardized form that can be obtained from its website or from the depart-
33 ment and such notification shall include:
34 (a) the trade name or "doing business as" name, if any, of the motor
35 vehicle repair shop;
36 (b) the full name of the applicant;
37 (c) the street address of the motor vehicle repair shop, including the
38 floor location or room number, if applicable;
39 (d) the mailing address of the motor vehicle repair shop, if different
40 than the street address;
41 (e) the name, address and telephone number of the attorney or repre-
42 sentative of the applicant, if any;
43 (f) a statement indicating whether the application is for:
44 (i) a transfer of an existing licensed business; or
45 (ii) a renewal of an existing certificate of registration;
46 (g) if the motor vehicle repair shop is a transfer or previously
47 registered motor vehicle repair shop, the name of the old motor vehicle
48 repair shop and a copy of such motor vehicle repair shop's certificate
49 of registration number;
50 (h) in the case of a renewal, a copy of the certificate of registra-
51 tion of the applicant; and
52 (i) a request that such community board provide a written opinion for
53 or against approval of such transfer or renewal, and advise the communi-
54 ty board that such opinion is required within thirty-five days of
55 receiving notice from such repair shop.
A. 3699 3
1 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
2 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
3 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
4 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
5 completed on or before such effective date.
