Prohibits certain entities from engaging in the business of assisting for hire in securing motor vehicle registrations or certified real property deeds; or for compensation, giving instructions as to procuring motor vehicle registrations or certified deeds.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8160
IN SENATE
April 11, 2018
___________
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- 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 and the real property law,
in relation to prohibiting certain entities from engaging in the busi-
ness of securing motor vehicle registrations or certified real proper-
ty deeds or giving instructions as to procuring motor vehicle regis-
trations or certified deeds
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
24 a duplicate upon proof of the facts and the payment of a fee of one
25 dollar. The refusal to issue a license may be reviewed by a proceeding
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13878-02-8
S. 8160 2
1 under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. Such
2 license shall be renewed annually upon the payment of a fee of twenty-
3 five dollars, such renewal to take effect on the first day of July in
4 each year. Upon renewal, the commissioner may, in his discretion, issue
5 a license which shall be valid for a two year period. The fee for any
6 such two year renewal shall be fifty dollars.
7 No license shall be issued under this section nor shall any renewal of
8 a license issued under this section be made for conducting business in a
9 city having a population of fifty thousand or more, according to the
10 latest federal census if the place of business of the licensee, or
11 branch thereof, is within fifteen hundred feet of a building, owned or
12 leased by the state, a county or a city, in which motor vehicle regis-
13 trations or licenses to drive motor vehicles are issued to the public.
14 The said distance of fifteen hundred feet shall be measured along the
15 public streets by the nearest route from such place of business, or
16 branch thereof, to such building. The provisions of this paragraph shall
17 not apply to a holder of a certificate of registration issued pursuant
18 to section four hundred fifteen of this chapter.
19 No license shall be issued under this section nor shall any renewal of
20 a license issued under this section be made for a person, firm, associ-
21 ation or corporation who engages in the business of assisting for hire
22 in securing motor vehicle registrations or who, for compensation, give
23 instructions as to procuring motor vehicle registrations. The provisions
24 of this paragraph shall not apply to a holder of a license issued pursu-
25 ant to section three hundred ninety-four of this article or the holder
26 of a certificate of registration issued pursuant to section four hundred
27 fifteen of this chapter.
28 A licensee shall be subject to such reasonable regulations concerning
29 the business conducted under his license as the commissioner may
30 prescribe and he shall permit the commissioner, or his representatives,
31 to inspect his place of business on any business day and shall furnish
32 to the commissioner, or his representative, such information concerning
33 the conduct of the business as may be reasonably required.
34 The provisions of subdivisions five and six of section three hundred
35 ninety-four of this [chapter] article shall be applicable with respect
36 to this section.
37 The holder of a license issued pursuant to section three hundred nine-
38 ty-four of this [chapter] article or the holder of a certificate of
39 registration issued pursuant to section four hundred fifteen of this
40 chapter shall not be required to secure a license under this section in
41 order to conduct a business for which a license is required by this
42 section but any such licensee, or registrant, who shall conduct such
43 business, shall be subject to the same visitation and regulation by the
44 commissioner with reference to such business as provided in this section
45 with respect to a licensee under this section.
46 As used in this section the phrase "licenses to drive motor vehicles"
47 includes the term "learners' permits".
48 A violation of any of the provisions of this section shall constitute
49 a misdemeanor.
50 § 2. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 291-k
51 to read as follows:
52 § 291-k. Certain private services prohibited. No person, firm, associ-
53 ation or corporation shall engage in the business of assisting for hire
54 in securing certified copies of real property deeds filed in the office
55 of a county clerk in this state, nor shall any person, firm, association
56 or corporation for compensation give instructions as to procuring certi-
S. 8160 3
1 fied copies of deeds. The provisions of this section shall not apply to
2 an attorney providing legal services to a client or to a licensed title
3 insurance agency. A violation of any of the provisions of this section
4 shall constitute a misdemeanor.
5 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.