2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 2 - Department of Motor Vehicles; Commissioner › Article 2-B - Adjudication of Parking Infractions › 241-A - Complaint Procedure for Satisfied or Wrongfully Imposed Fine or Penalty.

§ 241-a. Complaint  procedure for satisfied or wrongfully imposed fine
or penalty. 1. (a) Every city with a population of more than one million
inhabitants that has  established  a  parking  violations  bureau  shall
establish,  within  such  bureau,  a  properly staffed complaint unit of
public service representatives to respond to complaints from any  person
who, after having satisfied, by payment, adjudication, or administrative
action,  any  fine  or  penalty  for a parking violation or after having
proven that a fine or penalty was wrongfully  imposed  on  this  person,
receives  a  demand  for  payment  of  the  fine  or  penalty previously
satisfied or wrongfully  imposed,  or  is  denied  any  registration  or
renewal   application  by  the  department  of  motor  vehicles  upon  a
certification from such parking violations bureau  based  upon  lack  of
payment  of  any  fine  or  penalty  previously  satisfied or wrongfully
imposed. The complaint unit established under this section shall  accept
complaints  either  in  person  or  by  certified  mail,  return receipt
requested. Each written demand for payment, other than the first  demand
following  issuance  of  the  notice  of  violation,  shall  advise  the
addressee of the existence of the complaint unit and the  procedure  for
submitting  a  complaint.  Upon receipt of a complaint, if in person, or
within ten work days after receipt  of  a  complaint  if  by  mail,  the
complaint  unit  shall  acknowledge  receipt  in  writing and notify the
complainant of the procedure for  further  review.  The  complaint  unit
shall,  within  thirty  days after receiving a complaint in person or by
certified mail supported by the proof prescribed by this section, notify
the complainant that the payment has been credited to his or her record;
that the wrongful imposition has been  removed  from  the  complainant's
record;  or  that the information sent to the bureau fails to prove that
the fine or penalty was satisfied or that the imposition  was  wrongful,
in which case the reason or reasons shall be set forth.
(b)  If,  after this thirty day period, the bureau continues to demand
payment from this person of the fine or penalty previously satisfied  or
wrongfully  imposed,  or  if the bureau does not render a determination,
the person within six months from the date of his or her complaint shall
have  the  right  to  an  expedited  review  before  a  panel  of  three
administrative  law judges.  Such panel shall be empowered to compel the
bureau to produce records and other evidence relevant  and  material  to
the  complaint.  The  complainant  shall be required to submit, together
with his or her request for a  review,  a  copy  of  all  the  materials
submitted  with  the original complaint. The panel of administrative law
judges shall be  empowered  to  direct  that  the  bureau's  records  be
changed,  as  appropriate,  to insure that no further demand is made for
the fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed, and  the
bureau   shall  comply  with  such  directive.  Further,  the  panel  of
administrative law judges, upon petition by the complainant, may at  its
sole  discretion,  direct  the  parking  violations  bureau  to  pay the
complainant who receives a wrongfully imposed  fine  or  has  previously
satisfied  an  outstanding fine such out-of-pocket expenses as the panel
deems reasonable only in such cases where the  complainant  sufficiently
demonstrates  that  he  or  she  has  notified  the bureau of his or her
complaint under this section and the bureau has failed, in  the  panel's
opinion,  to  remove  the  wrongfully  imposed  fine  or  the previously
satisfied fine; however, payment of such expenses shall not  exceed  the
amount of the original fine.
(c) Any other city authorized to establish a parking violations bureau
may create a panel to resolve complaints relating to satisfied penalties
and  wrongfully imposed penalties. The composition of such a panel shall
be determined by local option.
2. This  section  shall  not  apply  to  parking  violation  fines  or
penalties  relating  to commercial, taxi, common or contract carriers or
livery vehicles.
3. In cities required to create a review panel under this section, the
parking  violations  bureau  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  complaints
submitted under this section for a minimum of  three  years,  and  shall
issue  a  public  report  every year containing the number of complaints
heard each year  according  to  category,  the  number  of  dispositions
favorable  to  complainants,  the  average  compensation awarded in such
favorable dispositions, and  any  other  appropriate  information.  Such
information shall also be published annually and placed in the municipal
reference library, in such cities where applicable.
4.  The  proof  that  must be submitted in connection with a complaint
made under this section is, as appropriate, a copy of the receipt, money
order or front and back of cancelled check; a copy of a police report of
stolen vehicle or stolen or lost plates or proof of an insurance company
payment for a stolen vehicle, or a department of motor vehicles  receipt
for  surrendered plates. As used in this section, a "wrongfully imposed"
fine or penalty shall mean a fine or penalty which is imposed after  the
respective  vehicle  has  been  stolen  or after the license plates were
stolen, lost or surrendered to the department of motor vehicles.
5. Every such parking violations bureau  shall  adopt  and  promulgate
rules  and regulations not inconsistent with any applicable provision of
law, to carry out the purposes of this section.