NY State Senate Bill 2021-S1679

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Consumer Protection Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to consumer protection
Jan 14, 2021	referred to consumer protection

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6998
Current Committee:: Senate Consumer Protection
Law Section:: General Business Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §399-v, Gen Bus L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S6783, A8461
2023-2024: S3376, A1444

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the parking protection act; provides that parking facilities shall display a sign stating the current applicable price of parking at such facilities; includes provisions on when a motor vehicle may be towed or immobilized and provides a limit to the cost of towing and storage of a vehicle.

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1679

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing
the parking protection act

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL:

This bill enhances regulations and protections for users of private
parking facilities outside New York City.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill titles the legislation the "parking protection
act".

Section 2:

-- Adds to existing signage requirements a mandate that the costs for

towing and immobilization of vehicles improperly parked be displayed;

-- Requires private parking facility operators to display a separate
sign that states that current applicable price to park and the time
during which that time is valid;

-- Provides that any price increase cannot take effect unless notice of
the change has been posted at least one hour in advance;

-- Specifies uniform minimum formatting, content, and size requirements
for the pricing signs, including a prohibition on expressing the price
to park as a range;

-- Requires a tower to be licensed by the municipality or local govern-
ment in which the private parking lot from which a car is to be towed is
located;

-- Prohibits a vehicle from being towed or immobilized unless it has
parked improperly at the private parking facility on two prior occa-
sions;

-- Prevents towing or immobilization of any vehicle occupied by a person
or live animal;

-- Requires the storage facility to which a vehicle is towed to be
located within 10 miles of the private parking facility or, if no such
storage facility is available, the closest available facility;

-- Specifies that if the owner or person having control of a vehicle
connected.to a towing apparatus arrives on the scene prior to to wing,
the vehicle must be disconnected upon payment of one-half of the towing
charge;

-- Provides that an immobilized vehicle must be released within 30
minutes after payment is made;

-- Requires a tow operator to accept payment via cash or credit card, at
the election of the owner or person in control of the motor vehicle
-- Limits the amount that may be charged for towing $125; and

-- Limits the amount that may be charged for storage to $15 for the
first three days of storage and $15/day for the fourth and any subse-
quent days.

Section 3 sets for the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Pay-to-park lot operators are given great latitude when enforcing the
payment for their services and when providing for the removal or immobi-
lization of motor vehicles improperly parked. In many areas of the
state, however, consumers have been subject to deceptive and predatory
practices by some unscrupulous private parking lot operators.

These practices include posting deliberately incomprehensible or inade-
quate signage and changing prices with little or no notice.  When
consumers haven't paid the correct price to park, it is often through no
fault of their own because the price was impossible to discern or was
switched at the last minute. The consumer is this situation is subject
to towing, immobilization (most often via "booting"), or payment of
additional fees. Creating minimum standard signage requirements for
parking prices and for towing/immobilization and implementing a "three-
strike" approach(under which consumers cannot be booted or towed unless
that same car has been the subject of two prior parking infractions at
that lot) will assist the vast majority of consumers who are making a
good faith effort to pay the applicable price to park.

Moreover, consumers are often in a position of extreme vulnerability
when faced with a car that has been booted, connected to a towing appa-
ratus, or removed from the parking lot. Increasing notice and transpar-
ency, requiring the car to be towed to a storage facility at a reason-
able distance from the lot, providing that a car must be disconnected
from a towing apparatus if the owner pays half the towing fee prior to
removal, and allowing a consumer to elect to pay the
towing/immobilization fee via cash or credit card will make the proc-
esses of towing and immobilization more fair.

This bill is intended to increase protections to users of private pay-
to-park lots while maintaining the ability of those lots' operators
(many of whom conduct business in a professional and fair manner) to
have unauthorized vehicles removed or immobilized.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020 - S6783 Referred to Consumer Protection Assembly

2020 - A8461 Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act takes effect immediately.

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1679
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 14, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
 
 AN ACT to amend the general business law, in  relation  to  establishing
   the parking protection act
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited  as  the  "parking
 protection act".
   §  2.  The section heading, subdivisions 2 and 3, and paragraph (i) of
 subdivision 7 of section 399-v of the general business law, the  section
 heading and subdivision 2 as amended, and paragraph (i) of subdivision 7
 as added by chapter 328 of the laws of 2008 and subdivision 3 as amended
 by chapter 655 of the laws of 1997, are amended to read as follows:
   Parking  facilities; towing AND IMMOBILIZATION of vehicles, posting of
 notices.
   2. (A) Every parking facility shall display prominently a  conspicuous
 notice stating the name, address and telephone number of the operator of
 the  parking  facility  together  with  the  name, address and telephone
 number of any individual or entity authorized to tow from  such  parking
 facility  any motor vehicle or the name, address and telephone number of
 any individual or entity authorized to place a device designed to  immo-
 bilize  any  motor  vehicle  in such parking facility. Such notice shall
 also state that unauthorized vehicles will be towed  OR  IMMOBILIZED  at
 the  vehicle owner's expense AND SHALL STATE THE COST FOR THE TOWING AND
 STORAGE OR FOR THE IMMOBILIZATION.
   (B) ALL PARKING FACILITIES SHALL  DISPLAY  PROMINENTLY  A  CONSPICUOUS
 SIGN,  NOT LESS THAN THREE FEET BY FOUR FEET IN SIZE, THAT UNAMBIGUOUSLY
 STATES THE CURRENTLY APPLICABLE PRICE OF PARKING AT THE FACILITY AND THE
 PERIOD OF TIME DURING WHICH THE PRICE IS VALID. A HIGHER PRICE SHALL NOT
 TAKE EFFECT UNLESS A SIGN PROVIDING NOTICE OF THE CHANGE  IN  PRICE  HAS
 BEEN  POSTED  AT  LEAST  ONE  HOUR PRIOR TO THE TIME AT WHICH THE HIGHER
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD06012-01-1

 S. 1679                             2
 
 PRICE IS INTENDED TO COMMENCE. THE SIGNS REQUIRED UNDER  THIS  PARAGRAPH
 SHALL  BE  SEPARATE FROM THE NOTICE REQUIRED UNDER PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS
 SUBDIVISION AND SHALL COMPLY WITH AND CONTAIN ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:
   (I) BLACK LETTERS ON A WHITE BACKGROUND;
   (II) LETTERS AND NUMBERS THAT ARE AT LEAST SIX INCHES IN HEIGHT;
   (III) ALL LETTERS SHALL BE IN THE SAME FONT;
   (IV) ALL LETTERS AND NUMBERS SHALL BE PROPORTIONATELY SPACED;
   (V) EACH TYPE OF RATE SHALL BE SPECIFIED ON A SEPARATE LINE; AND
   (VI) NO PRICES SHALL BE EXPRESSED AS A RANGE.
   (C) NO PERSON SHALL BE CHARGED A PRICE FOR PARKING EXCEPT AS SET FORTH
 ON THE SIGN POSTED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (B) OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   3. (A) No owner or operator of a parking facility shall tow or author-
 ize the towing of any motor vehicle or immobilize or authorize the immo-
 bilization  of  any  motor  vehicle in such parking facility unless such
 owner or operator displays a notice pursuant to PARAGRAPH (A) OF  subdi-
 vision  two of this section AND THE COMMERCIAL TOWER IS DULY LICENSED BY
 A MUNICIPALITY OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
   (B) NO MOTOR VEHICLE MAY BE TOWED OR IMMOBILIZED:
   (I) UNLESS THE MOTOR VEHICLE HAS, ON AT LEAST TWO PREVIOUS  OCCASIONS,
 PARKED  IN  A MANNER INCONSISTENT WITH LAW OR POSTED INSTRUCTIONS AT THE
 PARKING FACILITY FROM WHICH THE OWNER SEEKS TO HAVE IT TOWED OR AT WHICH
 THE OWNER SEEKS TO HAVE IT IMMOBILIZED; OR
   (II) WHEN THE VEHICLE IS OCCUPIED BY ANY PERSON OR LIVE ANIMAL.
   (C) NO VEHICLE TOWED PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION  SHALL  BE  STORED  MORE
 THAN TEN MILES FROM THE PARKING FACILITY FROM WHICH IS IT REMOVED. IF NO
 SUCH  STORAGE  FACILITY IS AVAILABLE, THE CLOSEST AVAILABLE FACILITY FOR
 STORAGE SHALL BE UTILIZED. THE STORAGE FACILITY MUST BE A  SECURE  PLACE
 FOR SAFEKEEPING VEHICLES.
   (D)  (I)  IF  THE  REGISTERED  OWNER OR OTHER PERSON IN CONTROL OF THE
 MOTOR VEHICLE ARRIVES AT THE SCENE PRIOR TO THE REMOVAL OF THE  VEHICLE,
 AND  THE  VEHICLE  IS CONNECTED TO ANY APPARATUS FOR TOWING, THE VEHICLE
 SHALL BE REMOVED FROM THE APPARATUS AND THE REGISTERED  OWNER  OR  OTHER
 PERSON  HAVING  CONTROL  OF  THE  VEHICLE SHALL BE ALLOWED TO REMOVE THE
 VEHICLE FROM THE PREMISES UPON PAYMENT OF A REASONABLE  SERVICE  FEE  OF
 NOT MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THE CHARGE ALLOWED FOR TOWING.
   (II)  A  PERSON  WHO HAS IMMOBILIZED A MOTOR VEHICLE SHALL RELEASE THE
 VEHICLE TO THE REGISTERED OWNER OR OTHER PERSON IN CONTROL OF THE  MOTOR
 VEHICLE  WITHIN  THIRTY MINUTES OF HAVING RECEIVED PAYMENT FOR THE VEHI-
 CLE'S RELEASE.
   (III) A TOW OPERATOR WHO  HAS  REMOVED  A  MOTOR  VEHICLE  UNDER  THIS
 SECTION,  OR  PERSON  WHO  HAS IMMOBILIZED A VEHICLE UNDER THIS SECTION,
 SHALL ACCEPT FOR PAYMENT EITHER CASH OR CREDIT CARD, AT THE ELECTION  OF
 THE  OWNER OR PERSON IN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND A RECEIPT FOR PAYMENT
 SHALL BE OFFERED.
   (i) regulate the reasonable amount, WHICH AMOUNT SHALL NOT EXCEED  ONE
 HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS TOTAL FOR THE TOWING AND FIRST THREE DAYS OF
 STORAGE  AND  NOT  MORE  THAN FIFTEEN DOLLARS PER DAY OF STORAGE FOR THE
 FOURTH AND SUBSEQUENT DAYS OF  STORAGE,  that  a  commercial  tower  may
 charge  for  the  towing and storage of a vehicle removed from a parking
 facility;
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S1679

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Consumer Protection Committee

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S1679

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Sponsored By

James Skoufis

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Consumer Protection Committee

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S1679 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments