N.Y. Vehicle & Traffic Law § 423-a: Enforcement procedures for insuring the retention of vehicle identification numbers on vehicles

§ 423-a. Enforcement procedures for insuring the retention of vehicle

identification numbers on vehicles. 1. Seizure of vehicle. (a) Members

of the state police, any local police department or any peace officer

acting pursuant to his special duties shall seize and confiscate a motor

vehicle or trailer if any original identification number or special

identification number is destroyed, removed, altered, defaced or so

covered as to be effectually concealed.

(b) The commissioner shall establish standards for determining whether

an identification number on a motor vehicle, trailer or part thereof is

destroyed, removed, altered, defaced or so covered as to be effectually

concealed. Whenever a vehicle described in paragraph (a) of this

subdivision is seized or confiscated, members of the state police, local

police department or peace officers acting pursuant to their special

duties, if warranted, shall arrest the supposed owner or custodian

thereof, and cause prosecution to be brought in a court of competent

jurisdiction. It shall be the duty of the appropriate agency or the

department of motor vehicles to retain the custody of each motor

vehicle, trailer or part seized pending the prosecution of the person

arrested until the ownership of such motor vehicle, trailer or part

shall have been ascertained. If the ownership of such motor vehicle,

trailer or part cannot be ascertained, or if the owner or custodian is

convicted of the theft or unlawful possession of said motor vehicle,

trailer or part, such motor vehicle, trailer or part, if in the

possession of the state police or any other state agency shall, at the

direction of the office of general services, be held for, or delivered

into the possession of, such office, and title shall vest in such

office, or if in the possession of a local police department or other

local authority, such motor vehicle or trailer shall be treated as an

abandoned vehicle pursuant to section twelve hundred twenty-four of this

chapter, or such part may be sold by the local authority to a registered

dealer or to a registered vehicle dismantler or certified scrap

processor as defined in subdivision nine of section four hundred

fifteen-a of this chapter.

2. Assignment of a new identification number. If a person other than

the person arrested be the owner, the motor vehicle, trailer or part

shall be returned to him as soon as he has arranged to have the

department of motor vehicles affix a new number, or in the case of a

part, inspect such part, and the department has done so, as provided in

section four hundred twenty-two of this chapter. Prior to the return of

the motor vehicle, trailer or part, or the transfer of custody of said

motor vehicle, trailer or part, the arresting officer shall transmit

notice of the arrest to the commissioner.

3. Disposition of certain motor vehicles, trailers and parts. (a) If

the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer cannot be ascertained, or if the

owner or custodian is arrested and convicted of the theft or unlawful

possession of said motor vehicle or trailer, and such motor vehicle or

trailer is held for or is in the possession of the office of general

services, the office of general services shall sell the motor vehicle or

trailer at public auction or by bid, or, it may be registered for use by

the office or by a state agency in the performance of the duties of the

office or of such state agency, provided that the department of motor

vehicles first affixes a special identification number to the motor

vehicle or trailer, if required. The special identification number shall

thereafter be used for identification, registration and all purposes of

this chapter, and the purchaser thereof may sell and transfer the motor

vehicle or trailer bearing such a special identification number or

numbers.

(b) If the owner of a part or parts of a motor vehicle or trailer

cannot be ascertained, or if the owner or custodian is arrested and

convicted of the theft or unlawful possession thereof, and such part is

held for or is in the possession of the office of general services, the

office of general services shall sell such part or parts to a registered

dealer or to a registered vehicle dismantler or a certified scrap

processor as defined in subdivision nine of section four hundred

fifteen-a of this chapter.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, ownership of

an unidentifiable part in an otherwise identifiable vehicle, other than

a stolen vehicle, held by the department or by a police department may

be transferred to the owner of such vehicle provided that the department

or police department has made findings that such owner had no knowledge

that the part was unidentifiable and that such owner was neither

responsible for rendering such part unidentifiable nor acting in concert

with any person who rendered or had such part rendered unidentifiable.

Such a transfer may be made to a person who is presumed to have

determined and to know identification numbers on motor vehicles and

parts pursuant to subdivision one of section four hundred twenty-one of

this article only upon payment to the department or to the police

department of an amount equal to the reasonable wholesale value of the

part. Such a transfer may be made to any other person without any

payment being made to the department or police department provided that

the department or police department is satisfied that the person has

been the owner of the vehicle with the unidentifiable part contained

therein for a period of at least eighteen months. Such findings may only

be made after an investigation and, if appropriate, a hearing. Such

investigation shall be made promptly by the department or the police

department upon the request of such owner. Proceeds from the transfer of

any such part shall be paid into the general fund of the state if

transferred by the department or the division of state police, or into

the general fund of the appropriate local authority, if transferred by a

local police department. No such part shall be so transferred until a

special identification number has been affixed to such part and the

appropriate fee has been paid by the owner of the vehicle.

4. Whenever a vehicle or part which is in the possession of the state

police or any other state agency or a local police agency or other local

authority is returned to an owner, the cost of making delivery of the

vehicle or part shall be a charge upon such owner. With respect to motor

vehicles, trailers and parts held by the state police or any other state

agency, the commissioner of the office of general services, after

consultation with the commissioner of motor vehicles, shall promulgate

regulations to effectuate the provisions of this section. Such

regulations may include, but shall not be limited to, provisions for the

removal of parts from vehicles, the storage and sale of vehicles and

parts and the recovery of costs incurred in performing the duties

required herein.

5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the commissioner is

holding a vehicle or vehicle part, upon determination of the rightful

owner of the vehicle or vehicle part, the commissioner shall give

written notice to the owner to retrieve such vehicle or vehicle part.

Fifteen days after the receipt of such notice by certified mail, the

commissioner shall impose a storage charge of ten dollars a day for a

vehicle and five dollars a day for a vehicle part or parts. Unpaid

storage charges shall be a lien upon the vehicle or vehicle part and

such lien may be foreclosed in accordance with article nine of the lien

law. Any moneys collected as storage charges or as the result of

foreclosure of liens for storage shall be used to fund the motor vehicle

theft prevention program established by section two hundred twenty-three

of this chapter.