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; provides a limit to the cost of towing and storage of a vehicle.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1444
SPONSOR: Wallace TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing
the parking protection act
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF 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 towing,
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 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 inadequate
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 main-
taining the ability of those lots' operators (many of whom conduct busi-
ness in a professional and fair manner) to have unauthorized vehicles
removed or immobilized.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-2020: A.8461 - referred to consumer affairs and protection
2021-2022: A.6998 - referred to consumer affairs and protection
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1444
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Consumer Affairs and 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:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "parking
2 protection act".
3 § 2. The section heading, subdivisions 2 and 3, and paragraph (i) of
4 subdivision 7 of section 399-v of the general business law, the section
5 heading and subdivision 2 as amended, and paragraph (i) of subdivision 7
6 as added by chapter 328 of the laws of 2008 and subdivision 3 as amended
7 by chapter 655 of the laws of 1997, are amended to read as follows:
8 Parking facilities; towing and immobilization of vehicles, posting of
9 notices.
10 2. (a) Every parking facility shall display prominently a conspicuous
11 notice stating the name, address and telephone number of the operator of
12 the parking facility together with the name, address and telephone
13 number of any individual or entity authorized to tow from such parking
14 facility any motor vehicle or the name, address and telephone number of
15 any individual or entity authorized to place a device designed to immo-
16 bilize any motor vehicle in such parking facility. Such notice shall
17 also state that unauthorized vehicles will be towed or immobilized at
18 the vehicle owner's expense and shall state the cost for the towing and
19 storage or for the immobilization.
20 (b) All parking facilities shall display prominently a conspicuous
21 sign, not less than three feet by four feet in size, that unambiguously
22 states the currently applicable price of parking at the facility and the
23 period of time during which the price is valid. A higher price shall not
24 take effect unless a sign providing notice of the change in price has
25 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.
LBD01231-01-3
A. 1444 2
1 price is intended to commence. The signs required under this paragraph
2 shall be separate from the notice required under paragraph (a) of this
3 subdivision and shall comply with and contain all of the following:
4 (i) black letters on a white background;
5 (ii) letters and numbers that are at least six inches in height;
6 (iii) all letters shall be in the same font;
7 (iv) all letters and numbers shall be proportionately spaced;
8 (v) each type of rate shall be specified on a separate line; and
9 (vi) no prices shall be expressed as a range.
10 (c) No person shall be charged a price for parking except as set forth
11 on the sign posted pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
12 3. (a) No owner or operator of a parking facility shall tow or author-
13 ize the towing of any motor vehicle or immobilize or authorize the immo-
14 bilization of any motor vehicle in such parking facility unless such
15 owner or operator displays a notice pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdi-
16 vision two of this section and the commercial tower is duly licensed by
17 a municipality or local government.
18 (b) No motor vehicle may be towed or immobilized:
19 (i) unless the motor vehicle has, on at least two previous occasions,
20 parked in a manner inconsistent with law or posted instructions at the
21 parking facility from which the owner seeks to have it towed or at which
22 the owner seeks to have it immobilized; or
23 (ii) when the vehicle is occupied by any person or live animal.
24 (c) No vehicle towed pursuant to this section shall be stored more
25 than ten miles from the parking facility from which is it removed. If no
26 such storage facility is available, the closest available facility for
27 storage shall be utilized. The storage facility must be a secure place
28 for safekeeping vehicles.
29 (d) (i) If the registered owner or other person in control of the
30 motor vehicle arrives at the scene prior to the removal of the vehicle,
31 and the vehicle is connected to any apparatus for towing, the vehicle
32 shall be removed from the apparatus and the registered owner or other
33 person having control of the vehicle shall be allowed to remove the
34 vehicle from the premises upon payment of a reasonable service fee of
35 not more than one-half of the charge allowed for towing.
36 (ii) A person who has immobilized a motor vehicle shall release the
37 vehicle to the registered owner or other person in control of the motor
38 vehicle within thirty minutes of having received payment for the vehi-
39 cle's release.
40 (iii) A tow operator who has removed a motor vehicle under this
41 section, or person who has immobilized a vehicle under this section,
42 shall accept for payment either cash or credit card, at the election of
43 the owner or person in control of the vehicle and a receipt for payment
44 shall be offered.
45 (i) regulate the reasonable amount, which amount shall not exceed one
46 hundred twenty-five dollars total for the towing and first three days of
47 storage and not more than fifteen dollars per day of storage for the
48 fourth and subsequent days of storage, that a commercial tower may
49 charge for the towing and storage of a vehicle removed from a parking
50 facility;
51 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
