2006 New York Code - Complaint Procedure For Satisfied Or Wrongfully Imposed Fine Or Penalty.

 
    § 241-a. Complaint  procedure for satisfied or wrongfully imposed fine
  or penalty. 1. (a) Every city with a population of more than one million
  inhabitants that has  established  a  parking  violations  bureau  shall
  establish,  within  such  bureau,  a  properly staffed complaint unit of
  public service representatives to respond to complaints from any  person
  who, after having satisfied, by payment, adjudication, or administrative
  action,  any  fine  or  penalty  for a parking violation or after having
  proven that a fine or penalty was wrongfully  imposed  on  this  person,
  receives  a  demand  for  payment  of  the  fine  or  penalty previously
  satisfied or wrongfully  imposed,  or  is  denied  any  registration  or
  renewal   application  by  the  department  of  motor  vehicles  upon  a
  certification from such parking violations bureau  based  upon  lack  of
  payment  of  any  fine  or  penalty  previously  satisfied or wrongfully
  imposed. The complaint unit established under this section shall  accept
  complaints  either  in  person  or  by  certified  mail,  return receipt
  requested. Each written demand for payment, other than the first  demand
  following  issuance  of  the  notice  of  violation,  shall  advise  the
  addressee of the existence of the complaint unit and the  procedure  for
  submitting  a  complaint.  Upon receipt of a complaint, if in person, or
  within ten work days after receipt  of  a  complaint  if  by  mail,  the
  complaint  unit  shall  acknowledge  receipt  in  writing and notify the
  complainant of the procedure for  further  review.  The  complaint  unit
  shall,  within  thirty  days after receiving a complaint in person or by
  certified mail supported by the proof prescribed by this section, notify
  the complainant that the payment has been credited to his or her record;
  that the wrongful imposition has been  removed  from  the  complainant's
  record;  or  that the information sent to the bureau fails to prove that
  the fine or penalty was satisfied or that the imposition  was  wrongful,
  in which case the reason or reasons shall be set forth.
    (b)  If,  after this thirty day period, the bureau continues to demand
  payment from this person of the fine or penalty previously satisfied  or
  wrongfully  imposed,  or  if the bureau does not render a determination,
  the person within six months from the date of his or her complaint shall
  have  the  right  to  an  expedited  review  before  a  panel  of  three
  administrative  law judges.  Such panel shall be empowered to compel the
  bureau to produce records and other evidence relevant  and  material  to
  the  complaint.  The  complainant  shall be required to submit, together
  with his or her request for a  review,  a  copy  of  all  the  materials
  submitted  with  the original complaint. The panel of administrative law
  judges shall be  empowered  to  direct  that  the  bureau's  records  be
  changed,  as  appropriate,  to insure that no further demand is made for
  the fine or penalty previously satisfied or wrongfully imposed, and  the
  bureau   shall  comply  with  such  directive.  Further,  the  panel  of
  administrative law judges, upon petition by the complainant, may at  its
  sole  discretion,  direct  the  parking  violations  bureau  to  pay the
  complainant who receives a wrongfully imposed  fine  or  has  previously
  satisfied  an  outstanding fine such out-of-pocket expenses as the panel
  deems reasonable only in such cases where the  complainant  sufficiently
  demonstrates  that  he  or  she  has  notified  the bureau of his or her
  complaint under this section and the bureau has failed, in  the  panel's
  opinion,  to  remove  the  wrongfully  imposed  fine  or  the previously
  satisfied fine; however, payment of such expenses shall not  exceed  the
  amount of the original fine.
    (c) Any other city authorized to establish a parking violations bureau
  may create a panel to resolve complaints relating to satisfied penalties
  and  wrongfully imposed penalties. The composition of such a panel shall
  be determined by local option.
    2. This  section  shall  not  apply  to  parking  violation  fines  or
  penalties  relating  to commercial, taxi, common or contract carriers or
  livery vehicles.
    3. In cities required to create a review panel under this section, the
  parking  violations  bureau  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  complaints
  submitted under this section for a minimum of  three  years,  and  shall
  issue  a  public  report  every year containing the number of complaints
  heard each year  according  to  category,  the  number  of  dispositions
  favorable  to  complainants,  the  average  compensation awarded in such
  favorable dispositions, and  any  other  appropriate  information.  Such
  information shall also be published annually and placed in the municipal
  reference library, in such cities where applicable.
    4.  The  proof  that  must be submitted in connection with a complaint
  made under this section is, as appropriate, a copy of the receipt, money
  order or front and back of cancelled check; a copy of a police report of
  stolen vehicle or stolen or lost plates or proof of an insurance company
  payment for a stolen vehicle, or a department of motor vehicles  receipt
  for  surrendered plates. As used in this section, a "wrongfully imposed"
  fine or penalty shall mean a fine or penalty which is imposed after  the
  respective  vehicle  has  been  stolen  or after the license plates were
  stolen, lost or surrendered to the department of motor vehicles.
    5. Every such parking violations bureau  shall  adopt  and  promulgate
  rules  and regulations not inconsistent with any applicable provision of
  law, to carry out the purposes of this section.