2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 3 - Safety Responsibility; Financial Security; Equipment; Inspection; Size and Weight; and Other Provisions › Article 12-A - Motor Vehicle Repair Shop Registration Act › 398-C - Registration Required; Application; Fees and Issuance of Certificate of Registration.

§ 398-c. Registration  required;  application;  fees  and  issuance of
certificate of registration. 1. Registration required. On and after  the
first  day  of  November, nineteen hundred seventy-five, no person shall
operate, or cause to have operated, a motor vehicle repair shop,  unless
such  motor  vehicle  repair  shop  is registered in accordance with the
provisions of this article and unless  such  registration  is  currently
valid.  The commissioner may request the attorney general to commence an
action to enjoin the operation of  any  motor  vehicle  repair  shop  in
violation  of this subdivision. A violation of this subdivision shall be
heard and determined and shall be subject to penalties  as  provided  in
section three hundred ninety-eight-i of this chapter.
2. Application. An application for a certificate of registration under
this  section  shall  be  filed  with the commissioner, in such form and
detail as the commissioner shall prescribe, setting forth:
(a) the name and  the  residence  address  of  the  applicant;  if  an
individual,  the  name  under which he intends to conduct business; if a
co-partnership, the name and residence address of each  member  thereof,
and  the  name  under  which  the  business  is  to  be  conducted; if a
corporation where stock is not sold to the public on a stock exchange or
over-the-counter market, the name  of  the  corporation,  the  name  and
residence address of each of the officers, directors and stockholders of
the  corporation  holding more than ten percent of the outstanding stock
and the name under which the business is to be  conducted  if  different
from  the  name of the corporation; if a corporation whose stock is sold
to the public on a stock exchange or over-the-counter market,  the  name
and  business  address  of  the  corporation,  the  name under which the
business is to be conducted if different from the corporate name  and  a
separate statement that the corporation is either registered in New York
or is authorized to do business in this state.
(a-1) appropriate certification or documentation from the municipality
where the repair shop is located that the facility is in compliance with
applicable   zoning  and  planning  regulations,  fire  regulations  and
building codes. It shall be  the  responsibility  of  the  applicant  to
provide  such  documentation  for the commissioner. The commissioner may
waive this requirement for applicants from municipalities  without  such
codes or regulations.
(b)  the place or places, including the complete address or addresses,
where the business is to be conducted.
(c) on and  after  January  first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-one,  an
indication   as   to   whether  the  applicant  services  motor  vehicle
air-conditioning systems and, if so, whether the applicant has purchased
approved motor vehicle refrigerant recycling equipment or approved motor
vehicle refrigerant recapturing equipment  in  accordance  with  section
38-0107  of  the environmental conservation law. Applicants who indicate
that they have purchased approved motor  vehicle  refrigerant  recycling
equipment   must   submit   along   with   their  application  either  a
manufacturer's certificate issued upon purchase or an invoice with proof
of payment. All such documents shall contain the name and address of the
repair shop and manufacturer, the date purchased, and the serial numbers
of the units acquired.
(d)  such  further  information  as  the  commissioner  may  by   rule
prescribe.
The  commissioner may require the applicant to appear at such time and
place as may be designated by the commissioner for examination to enable
him to determine the accuracy of the facts  set  forth  in  the  written
application,  either  for initial registration or renewal thereof. Where
the business is  conducted  under  franchise,  lease  or  other  similar
arrangement,  the  commissioner,  in  his  discretion,  may  require the

application to be submitted by the franchise  holder,  lessee  or  other
person   actually   responsible   for  conducting  the  business.  Every
application under  this  section  shall  be  affirmed  as  true  by  the
applicant.
3. Fees and issuance of certificate of registration.
(a)  Every original application shall be accompanied by an application
fee of ten  dollars,  which  shall  in  no  event  be  refunded.  If  an
application  is  approved  by  the  commissioner,  upon  payment  by the
applicant of an additional fee of one hundred  fifty  dollars  for  each
place  of  business,  the  applicant  shall  be granted a certificate of
registration  for  each  place  of  business,   which   certificate   or
certificates  shall be valid for a period of two years. The commissioner
may, however, in his discretion, issue such certificates of registration
on a staggered expiration basis, in  which  event  the  fees  set  forth
herein  shall be prorated on a monthly basis. In the event a certificate
of registration is issued on a  staggered  expiration  basis,  it  shall
expire  on  the  date  fixed  by  the commissioner. The biennial fee for
renewal of any certificate  of  registration  issued  pursuant  to  this
section shall be one hundred fifty dollars. The commissioner shall issue
a  certificate  of  registration  to  each  applicant  pursuant  to  the
provisions of this article, which  certificate  shall  be  conspicuously
displayed  in  the  place  of  business of the registrant for which such
registration is issued. In the case of loss, mutilation  or  destruction
of   a   certificate   of  registration,  the  commissioner  shall  upon
application issue a duplicate certificate  thereof  upon  proof  of  the
facts.
(b)  If  a  certificate  of  registration  under this section shall be
issued in the names of two or more persons  as  partners  and  a  change
occurs  in  the  membership  of  such  partnership,  the  certificate of
registration shall not expire thereupon  so  long  as  any  one  of  the
persons  named  in  such  certificate  is a member of the partnership or
carries on the business of the partnership as surviving  member  of  the
partnership; provided, however, that when any such change occurs and the
certificate  of  registration does not expire, the partners or surviving
member after such change shall forthwith file with the commissioner  (i)
a   statement  regarding  the  change  in  such  form  and  giving  such
information as the commissioner  shall  require  or,  where  the  change
involves  the  addition  of  one  or  more  new  partners,  (ii)  a  new
application as provided in subdivision two of  this  section.  Such  new
certificate  of  registration shall expire on the expiration date of the
one replaced.
(c) If a certificate of  registration  under  this  section  shall  be
issued  and,  subsequent  thereto, the business name of any such shop is
changed, or in the event that the owners of a business incorporate  said
business  with  no change in the actual ownership and operation thereof,
such owner or owners thereof shall forthwith file with the  commissioner
a  statement  regarding  the  change  of name in such form and with such
information as the commissioner shall require.
(d) Fees assessed under this section shall be paid to the commissioner
for deposit to the general fund.
4. If an individual owner of a  registered  repair  shop  dies  or  is
adjudged  mentally  incompetent,  his  executor  or administrator or his
committee may carry on the  business  by  filing  an  amendment  to  the
application  for registration. Every corporation whose stock is not sold
to the public on a stock exchange or over-the-counter market shall  file
an  amendment to its application for registration if there is any change
in its officers, stockholders who hold more  than  ten  percent  of  the
outstanding  shares,  or  directors.  Every  repair  shop  shall file an

amendment  to  its  application  for  registration  if  it  changes  its
location.  Every such amendment shall be filed within thirty days of the
event.