N.Y. Vehicle & Traffic Law § 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.