[Added 5-8-1996, approved 5-9-1996]
No person shall tow or cause to have towed an
unauthorized motor vehicle from a private or public parking lot, as
heretofore defined, unless the following requirements have been complied
with:
A.
A towing permit shall have been obtained for the premises from the
City Clerk and an annual fee of $100 paid to the City of Mount Vernon
for each lot covered by the permit.
[Amended 10-8-2014, approved 10-9-2014]
B.
A sign of minimum dimensions of three feet by three
feet shall be conspicuously posted at each entrance and exit to the
parking lot and wherever else the Commissioner deems necessary. Each
sign must contain the following information:
(1)
A statement that any car parked without authorization
on the premises shall be towed at the owner's expense.
(2)
The towing fee to be charged, said fee not to exceed
$65 for the first offense and $100 for a second or subsequent offense,
with the maximum fine in each and every instance which may be imposed
not to exceed $250.
[Amended 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999; 3-27-2019, approved 4-2-2019]
(3)
The per-diem storage fee charged shall not exceed
$10.
[Amended 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
(4)
The permit number.
(5)
The name, address and telephone number of where the
motor vehicle can be claimed.
C.
Only a person licensed by the City of Mount Vernon
pursuant to this chapter may tow said vehicle from said premises.
D.
The charge for towing and storage shall not exceed
the maximum permitted charges as provided by this chapter.
E.
It shall be unlawful for a licensed tower to tow from
a private or public parking lot unless a permit has been issued to
said premises.
F.
No permit issued hereunder shall be transferred to
another premises.
G.
The City of Mount Vernon and one-family and two-family
residential properties are exempt from this section.
H.
The owner of the vehicle is to be notified, in writing,
by certified mail, within five days of removal by the licensed tow
operator. In the event that the owner is not so notified, no additional
per-diem charges shall accrue after the fifth day.
I.
Upon pickup, the licensed tow operator must notify
the Police Department radio room of the color, make, year and model
of the auto towed from the private property, as well as the date and
time and complete Form MV-31A at Mount Vernon Police Headquarters.
The tow operator must also maintain a running log of all vehicles
picked up pursuant to this section, listing the date and time of pickup,
the color, make, year and model number of the vehicle picked up and
time of the call to the Police Department and the name of the person
receiving the information.
J.
The licensed tow operator shall be required to maintain
for a two-year period all billing and towing records for vehicles
towed from private and public parking lots as defined in this chapter
and shall be required to make available for inspection all such records
to the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee upon demand.
K.
Booting.
[Added 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
(1)
Where the operator of a booting service places a booting
device on an unattended motor vehicle parked without authorization
on a privately owned real property under the direction of the owner
or an individual acting on behalf of the owner of such property, said
operator shall immediately notify the Police Department. Said operator
shall only be entitled to charge the owner of such motor vehicle the
maximum fee of $45 for the placement and removal of such booting device.
[Amended 5-9-2012, approved 5-10-2012]
(2)
No person shall boot or cause to have booted an unauthorized
motor vehicle from a private or public parking lot, as heretofore
defined, unless the following requirements have been complied with:
(a)
A sign with minimum dimensions of three feet
by three feet shall be conspicuously posted at each entrance and exit
to the parking lot and where else the Commissioner deems necessary.
Each sign must contain the following information:
[1]
A statement that any car parked without authorization
on the premises shall be booted at the owner's expense.
[2]
The booting fee to be charged, which shall not
exceed $45.
[Amended 5-9-2012, approved 5-10-2012]
[3]
The name, address and telephone number of booting
company, and how the boot can be removed.
[Added 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, business or corporation
to engage in booting of vehicles within the City of Mount Vernon without
having in force a license therefor as herein provided.
B.
No person shall boot or cause to have booted an unauthorized
motor vehicle from a private or public parking lot, unless the following
requirements have been complied with:
(1)
A sign of with minimum dimensions of three feet by
three feet shall be conspicuously posted at each entrance and exit
to the parking lot and wherever else the Commissioner deems necessary.
Each sign must contain the following information:
(a)
A statement that any car parked without authorization
on the premises shall be booted at the owner's expense.
(b)
The booting fee to be charged, which shall not
exceed $45.
[Amended 9-11-2013, approved 9-12-2013]
(c)
The name, address and telephone number of the
booting company, and how the boot can be removed.
[Added 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
A.
Every applicant for a booting license shall be subject to an examination
of criminal history information, including pending arrests and convictions.
Every application for a booting license shall file, together with
the application, fingerprints of both hands. The Commissioner of Public
Safety shall have the authority to submit the fingerprints of the
applicant, together with the required fees, to the Division of Criminal
Justice Services or other appropriate agency for processing and investigation.
No application for a booting license shall be approved until after
the commanding officer of the Criminal Identification Unit in the
Department of Public Safety has reviewed and examined the criminal
history information disseminated by the Division of Criminal Justice
Services. No applicant for a booting license shall be denied by reason
of an applicant having been previously convicted of one or more criminal
offenses, unless (1) there is a direct relationship between the applicant's
criminal conviction and the license sought, or (2) the issuance of
the license would involve an unreasonable risk to property or to the
safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public.
[Amended 10-28-2015,
approved 10-28-2015]
B.
An applicant for a license to engage in booting shall
list on his or her application for such license the names, addresses
and telephone numbers of each officer, director, principal, stockholder
owning more than 10% of the outstanding stock, or of each partner.
C.
If an applicant for a license conducts business under
a trade name or the applicant is a partnership, the application must
be accompanied by a copy of the trade name or partnership certificate
duly certified by the Clerk of the county in whose office said certificate
is filed. If the applicant is a corporation, a copy of the filing
receipt or certificate of incorporation filed with and stamped by
the New York State Secretary of State must be submitted.
D.
An applicant for a license shall furnish in the application
the address where the licensee does business and maintains the records
it is required to keep.
E.
Bond required. As a condition of the issuance of a
license to engage in booting, each applicant for such license shall
furnish, to the City Clerk, a surety bond in the sum of $5,000, payable
to the City of Mount Vernon.
F.
A licensee shall maintain the following complete,
accurate and legible records and receipts to substantiate that vehicles
booted are in compliance with the above section. Records shall include:
(1)
The time of first sighting, when the vehicle was first
observed on the property, the vehicle's license plate number, physical
description of driver, when the driver vehicle/driver was observed
parked beyond the time period allowed or when the driver left the
parking lot establishments.
(2)
The log shall be maintained and be available for inspection
on the property to which the entries pertaining to where the alleged
violation occurred and where the vehicle was booted; otherwise, the
log shall be kept and be available for inspection at the principal
place of business of the licensee.
G.
Each licensee shall issue to the person in charge
of a booted vehicle a receipt that contains the information required
by the following subsections in the form and manner described below
and shall retain an identical copy of each such receipt in its records:
(1)
The booting receipt shall be a printed form that includes
such captions and blank spaces as are appropriate to insert the information
to be furnished concerning the booting of a vehicle. Unless specifically
provided otherwise, the printed text shall be in no less than ten-point
type in a color that is sharply set off from the background color
of the document. The information to be inserted on the form shall
be legibly hand printed on the original page with indelible ink that
is sharply set off from the background color of the document.
(2)
The original and all duplicate pages of each receipt
form shall contain the following information and text in the order
listed below:
(a)
The words "BOOTING RECEIPT" at the top of the
page in twelve-point boldface type.
(b)
A receipt identification number, which shall
be issued in sequence, shall be nonduplicative and shall be imprinted
on the original page and all duplicate pages of each such receipt.
(c)
The name, business address, business telephone
number and license number of the licensee who booted or who authorized
or directed an employee to boot the vehicle.
(d)
The address of the property where the vehicle
was booted and a description of the location of the vehicle on such
property.
(e)
The vehicle license plate number, the vehicle
identification number, the make and color of the vehicle.
(f)
The words "THE VEHICLE WAS BOOTED:" in twelve-point
boldface type followed by a full and accurate description of the facts
that substantiate the failure to comply with the parking rules posted
on the property pursuant to this chapter; if the failure to comply
involves parking longer than the time period permitted pursuant to
the posted parking rules, or the driver has exited the parking facility,
the description shall include the exact time, accurate to the nearest
minute, when the parked vehicle was first observed and when it was
observed to be parked beyond the posted, specified time period or
the driver left the parking complex.
(g)
The date and the exact time, accurate to the
nearest minute, when the vehicle was booted.
(h)
The amount of the charge for removing the boot,
followed by the statement identifying the credit cards that may be
used for payment.
(i)
The amount paid for the booting charge, the
method of payment, the date and the time, accurate to the nearest
minute, when the booting charge was paid and when the boot was removed
from the vehicle.
(j)
The name, identification badge number and initials
of the employee who attached and/or who removed the boot, and the
name, identification badge number and signature of the authorized
individual who accepted payment for the booting charge, unless and
if such vehicle is booted and/or such payment for the booting charge
is accepted by the licensee himself or herself, in which case such
receipt shall indicate the licensee's personal name and initials.
(k)
The words "IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OPERATOR OF BOOTED
VEHICLE:" followed by the statement set forth herein: "THE CHARGE
FOR BOOTING AND/OR TOWING THE VEHICLE CANNOT BE MORE THAN THE AMOUNT
SHOWN ON THE SIGNS POSTED ON THIS PROPERTY. A CAR CAN BE BOOTED AND
A CHARGE IMPOSED ONLY IF THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN VIOLATION OF THE
POSTED PARKING RULES. A BOOTING LICENSEE MUST STATE IN THIS NOTICE
THE FACTS THAT SUBSTANTIATE HOW THE POSTED PARKING RULES WERE VIOLATED.
SEE THE BACK OF THIS FORM FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS."
(l)
The name of the owner or lessee of the property
on which the vehicle was booted and the address and telephone number
where such owner can be reached during normal business hours.
(m)
The name and address of the Department, which
is to be identified as the licensing agency, and the telephone number
where booting complaints can be filed with the Department.
(n)
The booting fee to be charged, which shall not
exceed $45.
[Amended 9-11-2013, approved 9-12-2013]
