§ 241-A — Complaint procedure for satisfied or wrongfully imposed fine or penalty

§ 241-a. Complaint procedure for satisfied or wrongfully imposed fine\nor penalty. 1. (a) Every city with a population of more than one million\ninhabitants that has established a parking violations bureau shall\nestablish, within such bureau, a properly staffed complaint unit of\npublic service representatives to respond to complaints from any person\nwho, after having satisfied, by payment, adjudication, or administrative\naction, any fine or penalty for a parking violation or after having\nproven that a fine or penalty was wrongfully imposed on this person,\nreceives a demand for payment of the fine or penalty previously\nsatisfied or wrongfully imposed, or is denied any registration or\nrenewal application by the department of motor vehicles upon a\ncertification from such parking violations bureau based upon lack of\npayment of any fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully\nimposed. The complaint unit established under this section shall accept\ncomplaints either in person or by certified mail, return receipt\nrequested. Each written demand for payment, other than the first demand\nfollowing issuance of the notice of violation, shall advise the\naddressee of the existence of the complaint unit and the procedure for\nsubmitting a complaint. Upon receipt of a complaint, if in person, or\nwithin ten work days after receipt of a complaint if by mail, the\ncomplaint unit shall acknowledge receipt in writing and notify the\ncomplainant of the procedure for further review. The complaint unit\nshall, within thirty days after receiving a complaint in person or by\ncertified mail supported by the proof prescribed by this section, notify\nthe complainant that the payment has been credited to his or her record;\nthat the wrongful imposition has been removed from the complainant's\nrecord; or that the information sent to the bureau fails to prove that\nthe fine or penalty was satisfied or that the imposition was wrongful,\nin which case the reason or reasons shall be set forth.\n (b) If, after this thirty day period, the bureau continues to demand\npayment from this person of the fine or penalty previously satisfied or\nwrongfully imposed, or if the bureau does not render a determination,\nthe person within six months from the date of his or her complaint shall\nhave the right to an expedited review before a panel of three\nadministrative law judges. Such panel shall be empowered to compel the\nbureau to produce records and other evidence relevant and material to\nthe complaint. The complainant shall be required to submit, together\nwith his or her request for a review, a copy of all the materials\nsubmitted with the original complaint. The panel of administrative law\njudges shall be empowered to direct that the bureau's records be\nchanged, as appropriate, to insure that no further demand is made for\nthe fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed, and the\nbureau shall comply with such directive. Further, the panel of\nadministrative law judges, upon petition by the complainant, may at its\nsole discretion, direct the parking violations bureau to pay the\ncomplainant who receives a wrongfully imposed fine or has previously\nsatisfied an outstanding fine such out-of-pocket expenses as the panel\ndeems reasonable only in such cases where the complainant sufficiently\ndemonstrates that he or she has notified the bureau of his or her\ncomplaint under this section and the bureau has failed, in the panel's\nopinion, to remove the wrongfully imposed fine or the previously\nsatisfied fine; however, payment of such expenses shall not exceed the\namount of the original fine.\n (c) Any other city authorized to establish a parking violations bureau\nmay create a panel to resolve complaints relating to satisfied penalties\nand wrongfully imposed penalties. The composition of such a panel shall\nbe determined by local option.\n 2. This section shall not apply to parking violation fines or\npenalties relating to commercial, taxi, common or contract carriers or\nlivery vehicles.\n 3. In cities required to create a review panel under this section, the\nparking violations bureau shall keep a record of all complaints\nsubmitted under this section for a minimum of three years, and shall\nissue a public report every year containing the number of complaints\nheard each year according to category, the number of dispositions\nfavorable to complainants, the average compensation awarded in such\nfavorable dispositions, and any other appropriate information. Such\ninformation shall also be published annually and placed in the municipal\nreference library, in such cities where applicable.\n 4. The proof that must be submitted in connection with a complaint\nmade under this section is, as appropriate, a copy of the receipt, money\norder or front and back of cancelled check; a copy of a police report of\nstolen vehicle or stolen or lost plates or proof of an insurance company\npayment for a stolen vehicle, or a department of motor vehicles receipt\nfor surrendered plates. As used in this section, a "wrongfully imposed"\nfine or penalty shall mean a fine or penalty which is imposed after the\nrespective vehicle has been stolen or after the license plates were\nstolen, lost or surrendered to the department of motor vehicles.\n 5. Every such parking violations bureau shall adopt and promulgate\nrules and regulations not inconsistent with any applicable provision of\nlaw, to carry out the purposes of this section.\n