Strengthens consumer protections involving adjudication of fines and penalties and complaint procedures relating thereto as conducted by the NYC parking violations bureau.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
468
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 7, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JEFFRIES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to complaint
procedures for satisfied or wrongfully imposed fines or penalties by
the New York city parking violations bureau
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1-a of section 240 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as amended by chapter 379 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 1-a. Fines and penalties. Whenever a plea of not guilty has been
5 entered, which may involve but may not be limited to cases concerning
6 fast or broken meters or parking sign verification or the bureau has
7 been notified that an allegation of liability in accordance with section
8 eleven hundred eleven-a of this chapter or an allegation of liability in
9 accordance with section two thousand nine hundred eighty-five of the
10 public authorities law or sections sixteen-a, sixteen-b and sixteen-c of
11 chapter seven hundred seventy-four of the laws of nineteen hundred
12 fifty, is being contested, by a person in a timely fashion and a hearing
13 upon the merits has been demanded, but has not yet been held, the bureau
14 shall not impose or allow to accrue any penalties and shall not issue
15 any notice of fine or penalty to that person prior to the date of the
16 hearing. Penalties shall not be imposed or be allowed to accrue during
17 an adjournment granted by a hearing examiner during a hearing for the
18 adjudication of a charge of a parking violation or an allegation of a
19 liability in accordance with section eleven hundred eleven-a of this
20 chapter.
21 § 2. Section 240 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a
22 new subdivision 1-b to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00243-01-9
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1 1-b. If the bureau fails to comply with the provisions of subdivision
2 one-a of this section, the person charged with a parking violation or an
3 allegation of liability in accordance with section eleven hundred
4 eleven-a of this chapter shall have the right to an expedited review
5 before a panel of three administrative law judges. Such panel, upon
6 petition by the complainant, may at its sole discretion, direct the
7 parking violations bureau to pay the complainant double the penalty
8 wrongfully imposed or accrued whether or not such person is determined
9 to be guilty of the violation charged.
10 § 3. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 240 of the vehicle and
11 traffic law, as amended by chapter 379 of the laws of 1992, is amended
12 to read as follows:
13 a. Every hearing for the adjudication of a charge of parking violation
14 or an allegation of liability in accordance with section eleven hundred
15 eleven-a of this chapter or an allegation of liability in accordance
16 with section two thousand nine hundred eighty-five of the public author-
17 ities law or sections sixteen-a, sixteen-b and sixteen-c of chapter
18 seven hundred seventy-four of the laws of nineteen hundred fifty shall
19 be held no later than thirty days after entering a plea of not guilty
20 before a hearing examiner in accordance with rules and regulations
21 promulgated by the bureau. The person charged with a parking violation
22 or an allegation of liability in accordance with section eleven hundred
23 eleven-a of this chapter shall be notified of the date of the hearing if
24 requested. Failure by the bureau to comply with the provisions of this
25 subdivision will result, upon the request of the person charged, in an
26 automatic dismissal of all charges relating to and only to that
27 violation or allegation.
28 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 241 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
29 amended by chapter 379 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as
30 follows:
31 1. The hearing examiner shall make a determination on the charges,
32 either sustaining or dismissing them. Where the hearing examiner deter-
33 mines that the charges have been sustained he may examine either the
34 prior parking violations record or the record of liabilities incurred in
35 accordance with section eleven hundred eleven-a of this chapter or the
36 record of liabilities incurred in accordance with section two thousand
37 nine hundred eighty-five of the public authorities law or sections
38 sixteen-a, sixteen-b and sixteen-c of chapter seven hundred seventy-four
39 of the laws of nineteen hundred fifty of the person charged, as applica-
40 ble prior to rendering a final determination. Final determinations
41 sustaining or dismissing charges shall be entered on a final determi-
42 nation roll maintained by the bureau together with records showing
43 payment and nonpayment of penalties and a notice to that effect shall be
44 sent promptly to the operator or owner of the vehicle described in the
45 notice of violation. If the charges are sustained, the notice of final
46 determination shall state with clarity and detail the reasons for the
47 determination.
48 § 5. Section 241-a of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter
49 338 of the laws of 1987, paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 and subdivisions
50 2, 3 and 4 as amended and subdivision 5 as added by chapter 339 of the
51 laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows:
52 § 241-a. Complaint procedure for satisfied or wrongfully imposed fine
53 or penalty. 1. (a) Every city with a population of more than one million
54 inhabitants that has established a parking violations bureau shall
55 establish, within such bureau, a properly staffed complaint unit of
56 public service representatives to respond to complaints from any person
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1 who, after having satisfied, by payment, adjudication, or administrative
2 action, any fine or penalty for a parking violation or after having
3 proven that a fine or penalty was wrongfully imposed on this person,
4 receives a demand for payment of the fine or penalty previously satis-
5 fied or wrongfully imposed, or is denied any registration or renewal
6 application by the department of motor vehicles upon a certification
7 from such parking violations bureau based upon lack of payment of any
8 fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed. The
9 complaint unit established under this section shall accept complaints
10 either in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested. Each
11 written demand for payment, other than the first demand following issu-
12 ance of the notice of violation[,] and the error correction form shall
13 advise the addressee of the existence of the complaint unit and the
14 procedure for submitting a complaint and securing payment of expenses.
15 Upon receipt of a complaint, if in person, or within ten work days after
16 receipt of a complaint if by mail, the complaint unit shall acknowledge
17 receipt in writing and notify the complainant of the procedure for
18 further review. The complaint unit shall, within thirty days after
19 receiving a complaint in person or by certified mail supported by the
20 proof prescribed by this section, notify the complainant that the
21 payment has been credited to his or her record; that the wrongful impo-
22 sition has been removed from the complainant's record; or that the
23 information sent to the bureau fails to prove that the fine or penalty
24 was satisfied or that the imposition was wrongful, in which case the
25 reason or reasons shall be set forth.
26 (b) If, after this thirty day period, the bureau continues to demand
27 payment from this person of the fine or penalty previously satisfied or
28 wrongfully imposed, or if the bureau does not render a determination,
29 the person within [six] two months from the date of his or her complaint
30 shall have the right to an expedited review before a panel of three
31 administrative law judges. Such panel shall be empowered to compel the
32 bureau to produce records and other evidence relevant and material to
33 the complaint. The complainant shall be required to submit, together
34 with his or her request for a review, a copy of all the materials
35 submitted with the original complaint. The panel of administrative law
36 judges shall be empowered to direct that the bureau's records be
37 changed, as appropriate, to insure that no further demand is made for
38 the fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed, and the
39 bureau shall comply with such directive. Further, the panel of adminis-
40 trative law judges, upon petition by the complainant, may at its sole
41 discretion, direct the parking violations bureau to pay the complainant
42 who receives a wrongfully imposed fine or has previously satisfied an
43 outstanding fine such out-of-pocket expenses as the panel deems reason-
44 able only in such cases where the complainant sufficiently demonstrates
45 that he or she has notified the bureau of his or her complaint under
46 this section and the bureau has failed, in the panel's opinion, to
47 remove the wrongfully imposed fine or the previously satisfied fine[;
48 however, payment of such expenses shall not exceed the amount of the
49 original fine]. Such out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not be
50 limited to, lost wages, not to exceed one hundred fifty dollars per day,
51 provided that the complainant submits proof satisfactory to the panel of
52 such loss. The payment of out-of-pocket expenses by the parking
53 violations bureau and any other payment due from the parking violations
54 bureau to a complainant shall be made within thirty days. After filing
55 of a petition by the complainant and subsequent finding by the panel
56 that payment was not timely made, such payment shall be doubled.
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1 (c) Any other city authorized to establish a parking violations bureau
2 may create a panel to resolve complaints relating to satisfied penalties
3 and wrongfully imposed penalties. The composition of such a panel shall
4 be determined by local option.
5 2. This section shall not apply to parking violation fines or penal-
6 ties relating to commercial, taxi, common or contract carriers or livery
7 vehicles.
8 3. In cities required to create a review panel under this section, the
9 parking violations bureau shall keep a record of all complaints submit-
10 ted under this section for a minimum of [three] ten years, and shall
11 issue a public report every year containing the number of complaints
12 heard each year according to category, the number of dispositions favor-
13 able to complainants, the average compensation awarded in such favorable
14 dispositions, and any other appropriate information. Such information
15 shall also be published annually and placed in the municipal reference
16 library, in such cities where applicable.
17 4. The proof that must be submitted in connection with a complaint
18 made under this section is, as appropriate, a copy of the receipt, money
19 order or front and back of cancelled check; a copy of a police report of
20 stolen vehicle or stolen or lost plates or proof of an insurance company
21 payment for a stolen vehicle, or a department of motor vehicles receipt
22 for surrendered plates. As used in this section, a "wrongfully imposed"
23 fine or penalty shall mean a fine or penalty which is imposed after the
24 respective vehicle has been stolen or after the license plates were
25 stolen, lost or surrendered to the department of motor vehicles.
26 5. Every such parking violations bureau shall adopt and promulgate
27 rules and regulations not inconsistent with any applicable provision of
28 law, to carry out the purposes of this section.
29 6. Every parking violations bureau shall post signs in conspicuous
30 places in its offices open to the public, in both English and Spanish,
31 informing complainants of the complaint procedure and their rights with
32 respect to the recoupment of out-of-pocket expenses.
33 § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of September next
34 succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law provided, howev-
35 er, sections one, three and four of this act shall expire on the same
36 date as chapter 746 of the laws of 1988, as amended.
