2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 2 - Department of Motor Vehicles; Commissioner › Article 2 - Department of Motor Vehicles; Commissioner › 202 - Fees for Searches and Copies of Documents.

§ 202. Fees  for searches and copies of documents.  1. Except in those
cases in which it is provided by law that no fee shall be  charged,  the
fees  for searching the records of the department of motor vehicles kept
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and for furnishing copies  of
documents  in  said  department  kept pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter shall be as provided in this section.   Provided, however,  that
no  fee  shall  be  charged any public officer, board or body, volunteer
fire company, volunteer  ambulance  service,  or  legal  aid  bureau  or
society  or  other  private entity when acting pursuant to section seven
hundred twenty-two  of  the  county  law,  for  searches  or  copies  of
documents to be used for a public purpose.
2.  Fees  for searches of records. * (a) The fee for a search which is
made manually by the department shall be ten dollars.
* NB Effective until April 1, 2026
* (a) The fee for a search which is made manually  by  the  department
shall be five dollars.
* NB Effective April 1, 2026
* (b)  The  fee  for  a  search  which  is  made  by direct entry by a
requester who has been approved for such entry by the commissioner shall
be seven dollars.
* NB Effective until April 1, 2026
* (b) The fee for a  search  which  is  made  by  direct  entry  by  a
requester who has been approved for such entry by the commissioner shall
be four dollars.
* NB Effective April 1, 2026
* (c)  The  fee  for  a search which is made by means of an electronic
medium which has been prepared by a requester who has been approved  for
such  service  by  the  commissioner  and  which  is  processed  by  the
department shall be seven dollars.
* NB Effective until April 1, 2026
* (c) The fee for a search which is made by  means  of  an  electronic
medium  which has been prepared by a requester who has been approved for
such  service  by  the  commissioner  and  which  is  processed  by  the
department shall be four dollars.
* NB Effective April 1, 2026
(d)  The  commissioner  may  condition  approval for direct entry of a
request or  use  of  an  electronic  medium  by  a  requester  upon  the
establishment  and  maintenance of an account with the department with a
minimum  balance  established  by  the  commissioner  from  which   fees
chargeable  to  the  requester  shall  be  deducted.  In  addition,  the
commissioner shall prescribe the specifications and procedures  for  use
of  electronic media and may establish a minimum and/or a maximum number
of searches which may be contained on any  one  such  electronic  medium
submission.
(e)  For  the  purposes  of  this section, a search shall consist of a
single entry of an acceptable identifier for the purpose of obtaining  a
specific category of information relating to a person, vehicle or number
plate.  The  commissioner shall by regulation define such categories and
identifiers acceptable  for  such  categories.  Except  as  provided  in
subdivision  three  of  this  section,  a  search  of  the record of the
department shall include the furnishing of the information disclosed  by
such  search,  and  with  respect  to  searches  made  manually  by  the
department, shall include a certification of such record.
3. Fees for copies of documents. The fees  for  copies  of  documents,
other  than accident reports, shall be one dollar per page. A page shall
consist of either a single or double side of any document. The fee for a
copy of an accident report shall  be  fifteen  dollars.  All  copies  of
documents  shall  be  certified at no additional fee. Whenever search of

records of the department is required in conjunction with a request  for
a  copy of a document, the fee for such search shall be the fee provided
in paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section. The result of  such
search  will  be  the  locating  of  the document to be copied, or if no
document can be located, a certification to  that  effect  will  be  the
result of the search.
4.  Registration  lists  and  title  information. (a) The commissioner
shall have discretion to contract with the highest responsible bidder or
bidders to  furnish  the  registration  information  specified  in  this
section   from  the  records  of  all  vehicle  registrations  from  any
registration period, or number of periods not exceeding  five  years  in
the  aggregate,  with  respect  to  a  given territory or information on
titles. In such event, the fees provided by this section shall not apply
to copies of  records  furnished  under  any  such  contract.  Any  such
contract entered into by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall
not  be  for  a  term  of more than two years and shall contain language
prohibiting the successful bidder from assigning the contract  and  from
any  use  or  resale  of the information received which use or resale is
contrary to the public policy of this state or is contrary to the public
morals  or  welfare.  In  addition,  any  such  sale   of   registration
information   shall  be  limited  to  only  that  part  of  the  vehicle
registration records describing the name and address of the owner of the
vehicle and the  make,  model,  year,  weight,  body  style,  number  of
passengers and cylinders, fuel, license number, type of registration and
transaction,  validation  and expiration date and vehicle identification
number of the vehicle.
(b) The commissioner shall notify each  vehicle  registrant  that  the
registration  information specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision
has been or will be furnished to the contracting party. The commissioner
shall inform each vehicle registrant when such  registrant  first  makes
application  for  a vehicle registration or when such registrant applies
to renew an existing vehicle registration how to achieve the deletion of
such information from the contracting party's file. The contract between
the commissioner and the contracting party shall provide that, upon  the
request  of the registrant made in such manner and in such form as shall
be prescribed by the commissioner, such registration  information  shall
be  deleted  from the contracting party's file for all purposes, except:
(i) issuance  of  manufacturer's  warranty,  safety  recall  or  similar
notices, or (ii) statistical complications.
(c)  Any  material  violation  of  the  terms  of such contract by the
successful bidder not  corrected  or  discontinued  within  thirty  days
following  receipt of notice of such violation will automatically cancel
and void its contract with  the  commissioner  and  disqualify  it  from
bidding for the five successive years following such cancellation.
(d)  Any  contract  authorized by this section shall be subject to the
provisions of article nine of the state finance law.
(e)  The  commissioner  may  from  time  to  time  require  that   the
contracting  party  pursuant  to this section submit written reports, in
form satisfactory to  the  commissioner,  concerning  the  use  of  such
registration or title information.
5.  Miscellaneous  charges.  The commissioner upon request may furnish
copies of documents and records of searches by means  other  than  first
class  mail  upon  prior payment of any additional cost involved in such
transmission. Where the cost of such requested  transmission  cannot  be
readily determined before transmission, the commissioner may establish a
reasonable  fee  to  cover the cost of such transmission. Nothing herein
shall be construed to require the commissioner to provide such service.