BILL NUMBER: S3376
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing
the parking protection act
 
PURPOSE:
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 to wing,
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 for 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 inade-
quate signage and changing prices with little or no notice. When consum-
ers 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 maintaining the ability of those lots' operators
(many of whom conduct business in a professional and fair manner) to
have unauthorized vehicles removed or immobilized.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2020- S6783, Referred to Consumer Protection
2021-2022- S1679, Referred to Consumer Protection
Assembly
2020 - A8461, Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2021-2022- A6998, Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.