2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 4 - Registration of Vehicles › Article 17 - Other Provisions Relating to Registration and Possession › 423-A - Enforcement Procedures for Insuring the Retention of Vehicle Identification Numbers on Vehicles.

§ 423-a. Enforcement  procedures for insuring the retention of vehicle
identification numbers on vehicles. 1. Seizure of vehicle.  (a)  Members
of  the  state  police, any local police department or any peace officer
acting pursuant to his special duties shall seize and confiscate a motor
vehicle or trailer if any  original  identification  number  or  special
identification  number  is  destroyed,  removed,  altered, defaced or so
covered as to be effectually concealed.
(b) The commissioner shall establish standards for determining whether
an identification number on a motor vehicle, trailer or part thereof  is
destroyed,  removed, altered, defaced or so covered as to be effectually
concealed. Whenever  a  vehicle  described  in  paragraph  (a)  of  this
subdivision is seized or confiscated, members of the state police, local
police  department  or  peace  officers acting pursuant to their special
duties, if warranted, shall  arrest  the  supposed  owner  or  custodian
thereof,  and  cause  prosecution  to be brought in a court of competent
jurisdiction. It shall be the duty of  the  appropriate  agency  or  the
department  of  motor  vehicles  to  retain  the  custody  of each motor
vehicle, trailer or part seized pending the prosecution  of  the  person
arrested  until  the  ownership  of  such motor vehicle, trailer or part
shall have been ascertained. If the ownership  of  such  motor  vehicle,
trailer  or  part cannot be ascertained, or if the owner or custodian is
convicted of the theft or unlawful possession  of  said  motor  vehicle,
trailer  or  part,  such  motor  vehicle,  trailer  or  part,  if in the
possession of the state police or any other state agency shall,  at  the
direction  of  the office of general services, be held for, or delivered
into the possession of, such  office,  and  title  shall  vest  in  such
office,  or  if  in the possession of a local police department or other
local authority, such motor vehicle or trailer shall be  treated  as  an
abandoned vehicle pursuant to section twelve hundred twenty-four of this
chapter, or such part may be sold by the local authority to a registered
dealer  or  to  a  registered  vehicle  dismantler  or  certified  scrap
processor as  defined  in  subdivision  nine  of  section  four  hundred
fifteen-a of this chapter.
2.  Assignment  of a new identification number. If a person other than
the person arrested be the owner, the motor  vehicle,  trailer  or  part
shall  be  returned  to  him  as  soon  as  he  has arranged to have the
department of motor vehicles affix a new number, or in  the  case  of  a
part,  inspect such part, and the department has done so, as provided in
section four hundred twenty-two of this chapter. Prior to the return  of
the  motor  vehicle, trailer or part, or the transfer of custody of said
motor vehicle, trailer or part, the  arresting  officer  shall  transmit
notice of the arrest to the commissioner.
3.  Disposition  of certain motor vehicles, trailers and parts. (a) If
the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer cannot be ascertained, or if the
owner or custodian is arrested and convicted of the  theft  or  unlawful
possession  of  said motor vehicle or trailer, and such motor vehicle or
trailer is held for or is in the possession of  the  office  of  general
services, the office of general services shall sell the motor vehicle or
trailer at public auction or by bid, or, it may be registered for use by
the  office or by a state agency in the performance of the duties of the
office or of such state agency, provided that the  department  of  motor
vehicles  first  affixes  a  special  identification number to the motor
vehicle or trailer, if required. The special identification number shall
thereafter be used for identification, registration and all purposes  of
this  chapter, and the purchaser thereof may sell and transfer the motor
vehicle or trailer bearing  such  a  special  identification  number  or
numbers.
(b)  If  the  owner  of  a part or parts of a motor vehicle or trailer
cannot be ascertained, or if the owner  or  custodian  is  arrested  and
convicted  of the theft or unlawful possession thereof, and such part is
held for or is in the possession of the office of general services,  the
office of general services shall sell such part or parts to a registered
dealer  or  to  a  registered  vehicle  dismantler  or a certified scrap
processor as  defined  in  subdivision  nine  of  section  four  hundred
fifteen-a of this chapter.
(c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, ownership of
an unidentifiable part in an otherwise identifiable vehicle, other  than
a  stolen  vehicle, held by the department or by a police department may
be transferred to the owner of such vehicle provided that the department
or police department has made findings that such owner had no  knowledge
that  the  part  was  unidentifiable  and  that  such  owner was neither
responsible for rendering such part unidentifiable nor acting in concert
with any person who rendered or had such part  rendered  unidentifiable.
Such  a  transfer  may  be  made  to  a  person  who is presumed to have
determined and to know identification  numbers  on  motor  vehicles  and
parts  pursuant to subdivision one of section four hundred twenty-one of
this article only upon payment  to  the  department  or  to  the  police
department  of  an amount equal to the reasonable wholesale value of the
part. Such a transfer may be  made  to  any  other  person  without  any
payment  being made to the department or police department provided that
the department or police department is satisfied  that  the  person  has
been  the  owner  of  the vehicle with the unidentifiable part contained
therein for a period of at least eighteen months. Such findings may only
be made after an investigation and,  if  appropriate,  a  hearing.  Such
investigation  shall  be  made  promptly by the department or the police
department upon the request of such owner. Proceeds from the transfer of
any such part shall be paid into  the  general  fund  of  the  state  if
transferred  by  the department or the division of state police, or into
the general fund of the appropriate local authority, if transferred by a
local police department. No such part shall be so  transferred  until  a
special  identification  number  has  been  affixed to such part and the
appropriate fee has been paid by the owner of the vehicle.
4. Whenever a vehicle or part which is in the possession of the  state
police or any other state agency or a local police agency or other local
authority  is  returned  to an owner, the cost of making delivery of the
vehicle or part shall be a charge upon such owner. With respect to motor
vehicles, trailers and parts held by the state police or any other state
agency, the commissioner  of  the  office  of  general  services,  after
consultation  with  the commissioner of motor vehicles, shall promulgate
regulations  to  effectuate  the  provisions  of  this   section.   Such
regulations may include, but shall not be limited to, provisions for the
removal  of  parts  from  vehicles, the storage and sale of vehicles and
parts and the recovery  of  costs  incurred  in  performing  the  duties
required herein.
5.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the commissioner is
holding a vehicle or vehicle part, upon determination  of  the  rightful
owner  of  the  vehicle  or  vehicle  part,  the commissioner shall give
written notice to the owner to retrieve such vehicle  or  vehicle  part.
Fifteen  days  after  the  receipt of such notice by certified mail, the
commissioner shall impose a storage charge of ten dollars a  day  for  a
vehicle  and  five  dollars  a  day  for a vehicle part or parts. Unpaid
storage charges shall be a lien upon the vehicle  or  vehicle  part  and
such  lien may be foreclosed in accordance with article nine of the lien
law. Any moneys collected  as  storage  charges  or  as  the  result  of
foreclosure of liens for storage shall be used to fund the motor vehicle

theft prevention program established by section two hundred twenty-three
of this chapter.