Provides recourse for a person whose vehicle was wrongfully towed in a city with a population of one million or more against the parking violations bureau in such city or the responsible agent of such bureau by granting such person the right to appear before a panel of administrative law judges which shall be empowered to order the correction of records, the refund of any fee paid to release the wrongfully towed vehicle and the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, including lost wages; defines the term "wrongful tow."
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4522
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 14, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- 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 wrongful
towing
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 1 of section 241-a of the
2 vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 338 of the laws of 1987, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Every city with a population of more than one million inhabitants
5 that has established a parking violations bureau shall establish, within
6 such bureau, a properly staffed complaint unit of public service repre-
7 sentatives to respond to complaints from any person who, after having
8 satisfied, by payment, adjudication, or administrative action, any fine
9 or penalty for a parking violation or after having proven that a fine or
10 penalty was wrongfully imposed on this person, receives a demand for
11 payment of the fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully
12 imposed, [or] is denied any registration or renewal application by the
13 department of motor vehicles upon a certification from such parking
14 violations bureau based upon lack of payment of any fine or penalty
15 previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed or whose vehicle has been
16 wrongfully towed as such term is defined by section two hundred forty-
17 one-c of this article. The complaint unit established under this
18 section shall accept complaints either in person or by certified mail,
19 return receipt requested. Each written demand for payment, other than
20 the first demand following issuance of the notice of violation, shall
21 advise the addressee of the existence of the complaint unit and the
22 procedure for submitting a complaint. Upon receipt of a complaint, if in
23 person, or within ten work days after receipt of a complaint if by mail,
24 the complaint unit shall acknowledge receipt in writing and notify the
25 complainant of the procedure for further review. The complaint unit
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02050-01-9
S. 4522 2
1 shall, within thirty days after receiving a complaint in person or by
2 certified mail supported by the proof prescribed by this section, notify
3 the complainant that the payment has been credited to his or her record;
4 that the wrongful imposition has been removed from the complainant's
5 record; or that the information sent to the bureau fails to prove that
6 the fine or penalty was satisfied or that the imposition was wrongful,
7 in which case the reason or reasons shall be set forth.
8 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 241-a of the vehicle and traffic law, as
9 amended by chapter 339 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as
10 follows:
11 4. The proof that must be submitted in connection with a complaint
12 made under this section is, as appropriate, a copy of the receipt, money
13 order or front and back of cancelled check; a copy of a police report of
14 stolen vehicle or stolen or lost plates or proof of an insurance company
15 payment for a stolen vehicle, [or] a department of motor vehicles
16 receipt for surrendered plates or a copy of a decision by an administra-
17 tive law judge. As used in this section, a "wrongfully imposed" fine or
18 penalty shall mean a fine or penalty which is imposed after the respec-
19 tive vehicle has been stolen or after the license plates were stolen,
20 lost or surrendered to the department of motor vehicles.
21 § 3. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
22 241-c to read as follows:
23 § 241-c. Wrongful towing. 1. For purposes of this section, wrongful
24 towing shall mean the towing of a person's vehicle: (a) for a fine or
25 penalty for a parking violation previously satisfied or wrongfully
26 imposed as defined in section two hundred forty-one-a of this article;
27 (b) for a parking violation which the person is in the process of
28 contesting with the parking violations bureau; (c) for inaccurately
29 being deemed a scofflaw; (d) for illegal parking when the vehicle was
30 legally parked at the time of the tow; or (e) for the operation of an
31 unlicensed, uninsured or unregistered vehicle when such vehicle was
32 properly licensed, insured or registered at the time of the tow.
33 2. Where a person's vehicle is wrongfully towed, such person shall
34 have the right to have an expedited review before a panel of three
35 administrative law judges as provided in paragraph (b) of subdivision
36 one of section two hundred forty-one-a of this article. Such panel shall
37 be empowered to compel the bureau or other responsible agent to produce
38 records and other evidence relevant and material to the complainant. The
39 complainant or person shall be required to submit proof with a complaint
40 made under this section. Such proof shall consist of, as is appropriate,
41 a copy of the receipt, money order, or front and back of a cancelled
42 check; a copy of a decision by an administrative law judge, a copy of a
43 police report of stolen vehicle or plates or proof of an insurance
44 company payment for a stolen vehicle, or a department of motor vehicles
45 receipt for surrendered plates or a copy of a current registration,
46 license or proof of insurance.
47 3. The panel of administrative law judges shall be empowered to direct
48 that the bureau's and/or other responsible agent's records be changed,
49 as appropriate, to ensure that no further demand is made for the fine or
50 penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed and/or that no
51 further wrongful towing action is taken against the vehicle for the same
52 reason as the first wrongful tow and the bureau and any other responsi-
53 ble agent shall comply with such directive. Further, the panel of admin-
54 istrative law judges, upon petition by the complainant or person, may at
55 its sole discretion, direct the parking violations bureau or other
56 responsible agent to refund any money paid to release the wrongfully
S. 4522 3
1 towed vehicle and to pay the complainant whose vehicle was wrongfully
2 towed such out-of-pocket expenses, not to exceed one hundred fifty
3 dollars, as the panel deems reasonable only in such cases where the
4 complainant or person sufficiently demonstrates that his or her vehicle
5 was wrongfully towed. Such out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not
6 be limited to, lost wages, provided the complainant or person submits
7 proof, satisfactory to the panel of such expenses incurred. The payment
8 of any refund by the parking violations bureau or other responsible
9 agent shall be made within thirty days of the date the panel so
10 directed. After filing of a petition by the complainant or person and
11 subsequent finding by the panel that payment was not timely made, such
12 payment shall be doubled.
13 4. If the person's vehicle is wrongfully towed a second or subsequent
14 time for the same reason as the first wrongful tow then such person has
15 the right to request and the panel is authorized to direct the parking
16 violations bureau or the responsible agent to refund any money paid to
17 release the wrongfully towed vehicle and to pay the complainant or
18 person double the amount of his or her out-of-pocket expenses.
19 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
20 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
