STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits owner or operator of parking facility from preventing customer from leaving due to malfunction of parking facility payment process.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning parking facilities and supplementing P.L.1960, c.39.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The owner or operator of a parking facility that charges a fee for use shall not prevent a customer from leaving or removing the customer's motor or other vehicle from the premises due to a mechanical, technical, or other type of malfunction that results in the failure of the parking facility's regular method of processing and accepting payment. If a malfunction occurs, the owner or operator of the parking facility may delay a customer for a period of time not to exceed 10 minutes to repair or otherwise correct the malfunction in order to process and accept payment by way of the regular method.
If the malfunction cannot be repaired or corrected within that period of time, the owner or operator of the parking facility shall accept payment from the customer in cash or by credit or debit card. If the customer is unable to pay in cash or the owner or operator of the parking facility cannot process a credit or debit card payment, the owner or operator shall take the customer's name and mailing address and may send a bill for an amount not to exceed the actual amount charged for the customer's use of the parking facility.
If, due to the malfunction, the owner or operator of a parking facility is unable to determine the amount owed for use of the parking facility, the owner or operator shall charge the customer not more than the amount regularly charged for one hour of use.
b. A violation of subsection a. of this section is an unlawful practice under P.L.1960, c.39.
c. For the purposes of this section, a "parking facility" means any area or place, garage, building, or other improvement or structure operated for the parking or storage of motor or other vehicles.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits the owner or operator of a parking facility from preventing a customer from leaving the premises if the parking facility cannot process and accept payment.
Under the bill, an owner or operator of a parking facility that charges a fee for use is not to prevent a customer from leaving or removing the customer's motor or other vehicle from the premises due to a mechanical, technical, or other type of malfunction that causes the parking facility's regular method of processing and accepting payment to fail. If a malfunction occurs, the owner or operator of the parking facility may delay a customer for not more than 10 minutes to repair or otherwise correct the malfunction in order to collect payment by the regular method.
The bill provides that if the malfunction cannot be repaired or corrected within that period of time, the owner or operator of the parking facility is required to accept payment from the customer in cash or by credit or debit card. If the customer is unable to pay in cash or the owner or operator of the parking facility cannot process a credit or debit card payment, the owner or operator is to bill the customer for an amount not to exceed the actual amount charged for the customer's use of the parking facility. If, due to the malfunction, the owner or operator of a parking facility is unable to determine the amount owed for use of the parking facility, the owner or operator is to charge the customer not more than the amount regularly charged for only one hour of use.
The bill defines a "parking facility" to mean any area or place, garage, building, or other improvement or structure operated for the parking or storage of motor or other vehicles.
A violation of the bill's provisions is an unlawful practice under the consumer fraud act, punishable by a monetary penalty of not more than $10,000 for a first offense and not more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense. In addition, violations can result in cease and desist orders issued by the Attorney General, the assessment of punitive damages and the awarding of treble damages and costs to the injured party.