§ 918 — General provisions pertaining to records in offices of county clerks

§ 918. General provisions pertaining to records in offices of county\nclerks. 1. The clerk of each of the counties within the city of New York\nis authorized and empowered to do such further acts for rearrangement,\ncare, repair, restoration, preservation, indexing and convenient\nexamination of the records, documents, maps and papers filed or recorded\nin his office as in his judgment will best serve the public interest.\n 2. The clerk of the county of Richmond is hereby authorized, in his\ndiscretion, to destroy copies and originals of chattel mortgages, bills\nof sale and conditional bills of sale filed in his office, after the\nexpiration of ten years from the date of filing.\n 3. All books, records, maps and other public papers which are now\npublic records in the offices of the county clerks of New York, Kings,\nBronx, Queens and Richmond shall continue to be public records. The\ncounty clerk may cause copies thereof to be made by photocopying or\nother process, in his discretion, whenever by reason of age, use,\nexposure or any casualty, such copies shall in his judgment be\ndesirable. All copies of any records filed in any such office, when\ncertified by any such clerk to be accurate copies thereof, shall for all\npurposes have the same force and effect as the original. Unless\notherwise ordered by the appellate division pursuant to section\neighty-nine of the judiciary law, the original shall be placed in a\nsuitable enclosure and preserved, properly endorsed and indexed, for\nsuch examination as may be directed by an order of court in any\nproceeding in which the accuracy of the copy is questioned.\n 4. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the county clerk in\neach of the counties within the city of New York is authorized and\nempowered to maintain separate judgment docket volumes containing the\nprinted transcript or transcripts, in strict alphabetical order of\njudgment made, entered and docketed in the civil court of the city of\nNew York against individuals, corporations, and other entities on behalf\nof the parking violations bureau, the environmental control board, the\ntaxi and limousine commission, the department of consumer and worker\nprotection, the office of administrative trials and hearings when acting\nin accordance with subdivision c of section 7-551 of the administrative\ncode of the city of New York and the commissioner of jurors of the city\nof New York, provided that the judgments made, entered and docketed in\nthe civil court of the city of New York against individuals,\ncorporations, and other entities on behalf of the department of consumer\nand worker protection shall be limited to final decisions and orders\nthat either (a) award restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or\nworker; or (b) award such restitution, or monetary damages, to a\nconsumer or worker, together with civil penalties or equitable relief.\nThese volumes may be maintained in the form of computer print outs which\nshall contain the date of judgment, the name and address of the judgment\ndebtor or debtors, the amount of the judgment and other information\nwhich the county clerk may deem necessary to sufficiently describe the\nparties to the action or proceeding or nature or the manner of the entry\nof the judgment. The county clerk may, in in such clerk's discretion, in\nlieu of such volumes, maintain the aforementioned data in a micrographic\nor computer retrievable format. With respect to judgments on behalf of\nthe parking violations bureau such volumes or other format shall be\nmaintained pursuant to this subdivision for only those individuals,\ncorporations, and other entities having vehicles registered in the\ncounties within the city of New York.\n 5. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the department of\nconsumer affairs may file a certified copy of the final decision or\norder of such department, provided that such final decision or order\neither: (a) awards restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or\nworker; or (b) awards such restitution, or monetary damages, to a\nconsumer or worker together with civil penalties or equitable relief,\nwith the county clerk of any county within the city of New York where a\nrespondent resides or has a place of business, or, if the respondent is\na non-resident of the city of New York and no longer has a place of\nbusiness within the city of New York at the time such department seeks\nto file such certified copy, the department of consumer affairs may file\nsuch certified copy of such final decision or order with the county\nclerk of the county in which the department of consumer affairs is\nlocated. Such consumer or worker may file a certified copy of such final\ndecision or order provided that such person has been assigned such final\ndecision or order or a portion of such final decision or order\nauthorizing restitution, imposing monetary damages or providing\nequitable relief to such person. The filing of such final decision or\norder shall have the full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed\nin the office of such clerk. The final decision or order may be enforced\nby and in the name of the department, or by a person who has been\nassigned such decision or order or a portion thereof, in the same manner\nand with like effect as that prescribed by the civil practice law and\nrules for the enforcement of a money judgment.\n