Regulates vehicle licensing recovery fees as they relate to rental vehicles.
Ayes (7): Zeldin, Ball, Fuschillo, Little, Marcellino, Hassell-Thompson, Huntley
Ayes W/R (2): O'Mara, Adams
Nays (1): Squadron
Ayes (61): Adams, Addabbo, Alesi, Avella, Ball, Bonacic, Breslin, Carlucci, DeFrancisco, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Espaillat, Farley, Flanagan, Fuschillo, Gallivan, Gianaris, Golden, Griffo, Grisanti, Hannon, Hassell-Thomps, Huntley, Johnson, Kennedy, Klein, Krueger, Kruger, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Libous, Little, Marcellino, Martins, Maziarz, McDonald, Montgomery, Nozzolio, O'Mara, Oppenheimer, Parker, Peralta, Perkins, Ranzenhofer, Ritchie, Rivera, Robach, Saland, Sampson, Savino, Serrano, Seward, Skelos, Smith, Stavisky, Stewart-Cousin, Valesky, Young, Zeldin
Nays (1): Squadron
Ayes (8): Zeldin, Ball, Fuschillo, Little, Marcellino, Adams, Hassell-Thompson, Huntley
Ayes W/R (1): O'Mara
Nays (1): Squadron
BILL NUMBER:S2789
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the general business law, in relation to rental car vehicles
PURPOSE: To permit rental vehicle companies to itemize charges on the rental agreement for certain costs associated with the licensing, titling, registration, and inspection of vehicles.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: This bill amends subdivisions 1, 8 and 10 of section 396-z of the general business law.
Section 1 amends General Business Law º396-z (1) to add the definition of "vehicle licensing recovery fee" as the daily fee a rental vehicle company may charge customers which shall represent an average per-rental portion of the company's estimated annual costs, as imposed by the state, for the licensing, titling, registration and inspection of its vehicles in New York. Should the amount recovered from renters differ from the total amount paid by the vehicle rental company, the rental car company shall adjust its daily fee in the following calendar year by the amount of the difference. The amount of such fees collected and reconciliation with actual amounts paid shall be posted annually on each company's website.
Section 2 amends General Business Law º396-z (8) to allow rental car companies to advertise and quote base rental rates without bundling the vehicle licensing costs into the base rate.
Section 3 amends General Business Law º396-z (10) to require rental car companies to separately state on the rental agreement the base rate, taxes, mileage charge, optional items selected by the renter, airport fees, and vehicle licensing recovery fees.
JUSTIFICATION: New York has traditionally allowed only for taxes, mileage charges, optional items (such as navigation systems) and fees imposed on a rental vehicle company by an airport to be stated separately on a renter's rental agreement. Other mandated costs are currently bundled into the rental rate of each vehicle. The consumer is currently unaware which portion of the rate relates to the use of the vehicle and which portion of the rate relates to state-mandated expenses related to the vehicle. These New York State mandated expenses include the cost of licensing, titling, registering and inspecting the vehicle.
Rental car companies register tens of thousands of vehicles in New York. As vehicle licensing fees increase, rental car companies must raise rental rates accordingly. This legislation will allow rental car
companies to keep rates consistent with what they are offering in other states and on national advertising campaigns. It will not allow rental car companies to separately state expenses that constitute the general cost of doing business.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: Similar S.5725 Passed the Senate in 2010. 2010 - PASSED SENATE; Died in Assembly
EFFECTIVE DATE: This law shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the amendments to section 396-z of the general business law made by sections 1, 2 and 3 of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2789 2011-2012 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 1, 2011 ___________Introduced by Sen. KLEIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to rental car vehicles THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 396-z of the general business law is amended by adding a new paragraph (k) to read as follows: (K) "VEHICLE LICENSING RECOVERY FEE" MEANS THE DAILY FEE A RENTAL VEHICLE COMPANY MAY CHARGE ITS CUSTOMERS WHICH SHALL REPRESENT AN AVER- AGE PER-RENTAL DAY PORTION OF THE COMPANY'S ESTIMATED ANNUAL COSTS, AS IMPOSED BY THE STATE, FOR THE LICENSING, TITLING, REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION OF ITS VEHICLES IN THIS STATE. IF THE TOTAL AMOUNT RECOVERED FROM RENTERS BY A RENTAL VEHICLE COMPANY FOR VEHICLE LICENSING FEES DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR IS DIFFERENT THAN THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID BY THE RENTAL VEHICLE COMPANY FOR SUCH ITEMS, THE RENTAL VEHICLE COMPANY SHALL ADJUST ITS DAILY FEE IN THE FOLLOWING CALENDAR YEAR BY THE AMOUNT OF THE DIFFERENCE. AS OF FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH, TWO THOUSAND TWELVE, AND ANNUALLY EACH FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH THEREAFTER, A RENTAL VEHICLE COMPA- NY SHALL POST INFORMATION ON ITS INTERNET WEBSITE IN AN UNDERSTANDABLE AND READABLE FORMAT THAT SHALL SHOW A RECONCILIATION OF THE AMOUNT OF VEHICLE LICENSING RECOVERY FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY THE RENTAL VEHICLE COMPANY DURING THE PRECEDING CALENDAR YEAR AND THE AMOUNT OF VEHICLE LICENSING RECOVERY FEES CHARGED TO CUSTOMERS DURING THAT SAME CALENDAR YEAR FOR RENTAL OF VEHICLES. S 2. Subdivision 8 of section 396-z of the general business law, as amended by chapter 731 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 8. No rental vehicle company shall advertise or quote a rental rate that does not include all charges, except taxes or optional items and/or services or any mileage charge, which an authorized driver must pay toEXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08036-01-1 S. 2789 2
obtain a rental vehicle. Provided, however, a rental vehicle company shall be permitted to separately quote and charge airport fees[as defined herein]AND VEHICLE LICENSING RECOVERY FEES, which shall be in addition to the rental rate; and provided further that advertised rental rates that include locations at which airport fees apply shall clearly indicate that additional fees apply. S 3. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 10 of section 396-z of the general business law, as amended by chapter 731 of the laws of 2006, are amended to read as follows: (a) A rental vehicle company shall not charge in addition to the rental rate, taxes, and mileage charge, if any, any fee which must be paid as a condition of renting the vehicle, such as, but not limited to, required fuel surcharges, each of which shall be separately stated on the rental agreement. In addition, a rental vehicle company may also state separately and charge, where applicable, airport fees[as such term is defined herein]AND VEHICLE LICENSING RECOVERY FEES. (b) In addition to the rental rate, taxes, applicable airport fees, VEHICLE LICENSING RECOVERY FEES, and mileage charge, if any, a rental vehicle company may charge for an item or service provided in connection with a particular rental transaction if the renter could have avoided incurring the charge by not choosing to obtain or utilize the optional item or service, such as, but not limited to, optional accessories or services requested by the renter, service charges incident to the renter's optional return of the vehicle to a location other than the location where the vehicle was rented, and charges for refueling the vehicle with as much fuel as was in the fuel tank at the beginning of the rental. S 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the amendments to section 396-z of the general business law made by sections one, two and three of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
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