New York Laws

Article 2 - NY Vehicle and Traffic Law

Department of Motor Vehicles; Commissioner
202. Fees for searches and copies of documents.
  § 202. Fees  for searches and copies of documents.  1. Except in those
  cases in which it is provided by law that no fee shall be  charged,  the
  fees  for searching the records of the department of motor vehicles kept
  pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and for furnishing copies  of
  documents  in  said  department  kept pursuant to the provisions of this
  chapter shall be as provided in this section.   Provided, however,  that
  no  fee  shall  be  charged any public officer, board or body, volunteer
  fire company, volunteer  ambulance  service,  or  legal  aid  bureau  or
  society  or  other  private entity when acting pursuant to section seven
  hundred twenty-two  of  the  county  law,  for  searches  or  copies  of
  documents to be used for a public purpose.
    2.  Fees  for searches of records. * (a) The fee for a search which is
  made manually by the department shall be ten dollars.
    * NB Effective until March 31, 2015
    * (a) The fee for a search which is made manually  by  the  department
  shall be five dollars.
    * NB Effective March 31, 2015
    * (b)  The  fee  for  a  search  which  is  made  by direct entry by a
  requester who has been approved for such entry by the commissioner shall
  be seven dollars.
    * NB Effective until March 31, 2015
    * (b) The fee for a  search  which  is  made  by  direct  entry  by  a
  requester who has been approved for such entry by the commissioner shall
  be four dollars.
    * NB Effective March 31, 2015
    * (c)  The  fee  for  a search which is made by means of an electronic
  medium which has been prepared by a requester who has been approved  for
  such  service  by  the  commissioner  and  which  is  processed  by  the
  department shall be seven dollars.
    * NB Effective until March 31, 2015
    * (c) The fee for a search which is made by  means  of  an  electronic
  medium  which has been prepared by a requester who has been approved for
  such  service  by  the  commissioner  and  which  is  processed  by  the
  department shall be four dollars.
    * NB Effective March 31, 2015
    (d)  The  commissioner  may  condition  approval for direct entry of a
  request or  use  of  an  electronic  medium  by  a  requester  upon  the
  establishment  and  maintenance of an account with the department with a
  minimum  balance  established  by  the  commissioner  from  which   fees
  chargeable  to  the  requester  shall  be  deducted.  In  addition,  the
  commissioner shall prescribe the specifications and procedures  for  use
  of  electronic media and may establish a minimum and/or a maximum number
  of searches which may be contained on any  one  such  electronic  medium
  submission.
    (e)  For  the  purposes  of  this section, a search shall consist of a
  single entry of an acceptable identifier for the purpose of obtaining  a
  specific category of information relating to a person, vehicle or number
  plate.  The  commissioner shall by regulation define such categories and
  identifiers acceptable  for  such  categories.  Except  as  provided  in
  subdivision  three  of  this  section,  a  search  of  the record of the
  department shall include the furnishing of the information disclosed  by
  such  search,  and  with  respect  to  searches  made  manually  by  the
  department, shall include a certification of such record.
    3. Fees for copies of documents. The fees  for  copies  of  documents,
  other  than accident reports, shall be one dollar per page. A page shall
  consist of either a single or double side of any document. The fee for a
  copy of an accident report shall  be  fifteen  dollars.  All  copies  of
  documents  shall  be  certified at no additional fee. Whenever search of
  records of the department is required in conjunction with a request  for
  a  copy of a document, the fee for such search shall be the fee provided
  in paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section. The result of  such
  search  will  be  the  locating  of  the document to be copied, or if no
  document can be located, a certification to  that  effect  will  be  the
  result of the search.
    4.  Registration  lists  and  title  information. (a) The commissioner
  shall have discretion to contract with the highest responsible bidder or
  bidders to  furnish  the  registration  information  specified  in  this
  section   from  the  records  of  all  vehicle  registrations  from  any
  registration period, or number of periods not exceeding  five  years  in
  the  aggregate,  with  respect  to  a  given territory or information on
  titles. In such event, the fees provided by this section shall not apply
  to copies of  records  furnished  under  any  such  contract.  Any  such
  contract entered into by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall
  not  be  for  a  term  of more than two years and shall contain language
  prohibiting the successful bidder from assigning the contract  and  from
  any  use  or  resale  of the information received which use or resale is
  contrary to the public policy of this state or is contrary to the public
  morals  or  welfare.  In  addition,  any  such  sale   of   registration
  information   shall  be  limited  to  only  that  part  of  the  vehicle
  registration records describing the name and address of the owner of the
  vehicle and the  make,  model,  year,  weight,  body  style,  number  of
  passengers and cylinders, fuel, license number, type of registration and
  transaction,  validation  and expiration date and vehicle identification
  number of the vehicle.
    (b) The commissioner shall notify each  vehicle  registrant  that  the
  registration  information specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision
  has been or will be furnished to the contracting party. The commissioner
  shall inform each vehicle registrant when such  registrant  first  makes
  application  for  a vehicle registration or when such registrant applies
  to renew an existing vehicle registration how to achieve the deletion of
  such information from the contracting party's file. The contract between
  the commissioner and the contracting party shall provide that, upon  the
  request  of the registrant made in such manner and in such form as shall
  be prescribed by the commissioner, such registration  information  shall
  be  deleted  from the contracting party's file for all purposes, except:
  (i) issuance  of  manufacturer's  warranty,  safety  recall  or  similar
  notices, or (ii) statistical complications.
    (c)  Any  material  violation  of  the  terms  of such contract by the
  successful bidder not  corrected  or  discontinued  within  thirty  days
  following  receipt of notice of such violation will automatically cancel
  and void its contract with  the  commissioner  and  disqualify  it  from
  bidding for the five successive years following such cancellation.
    (d)  Any  contract  authorized by this section shall be subject to the
  provisions of article nine of the state finance law.
    (e)  The  commissioner  may  from  time  to  time  require  that   the
  contracting  party  pursuant  to this section submit written reports, in
  form satisfactory to  the  commissioner,  concerning  the  use  of  such
  registration or title information.
    5.  Miscellaneous  charges.  The commissioner upon request may furnish
  copies of documents and records of searches by means  other  than  first
  class  mail  upon  prior payment of any additional cost involved in such
  transmission. Where the cost of such requested  transmission  cannot  be
  readily determined before transmission, the commissioner may establish a
  reasonable  fee  to  cover the cost of such transmission. Nothing herein
  shall be construed to require the commissioner to provide such service.
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