Bill Text: NY A08560 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the crime of misapplication of construction rental equipment.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to codes [A08560 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A08560-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8560 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY July 10, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BUCHWALD -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to misapplication of construction rental equipment and theft of services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 165.03 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 165.03 Misapplication of construction rental equipment. 4 1. A person is guilty of misapplication of construction rental equip- 5 ment when, knowingly possessing construction rental equipment of another 6 pursuant to an agreement that the same will be returned to the owner at 7 a future time: 8 (a) he or she loans, leases, pledges, pawns or otherwise encumbers 9 such property valued in excess of one thousand dollars without the 10 consent of the owner thereof in such manner as to create a risk that the 11 owner will not be able to recover it or will suffer pecuniary loss; or 12 (b) he or she intentionally refuses to return such property valued in 13 excess of one thousand dollars to the owner pursuant to the terms of the 14 rental agreement provided that the owner shall have made a written 15 demand for the return of such equipment in person or by certified mail 16 at an address indicated in the rental agreement and he or she inten- 17 tionally refuses to return such equipment for a period of ten days after 18 such demand has been received or should reasonably have been received. 19 Such written demand shall state: (i) the date and time at which the 20 equipment was to have been returned under the rental agreement; (ii) 21 that the owner does not consent to the continued withholding or retain- 22 ing of such equipment and demands its return; and (iii) that the contin- 23 ued withholding or retaining of the equipment may constitute a class E 24 felony punishable by a fine of up to two thousand dollars or by a EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11411-05-7A. 8560 2 1 sentence to a term of imprisonment for a period of up to one year or by 2 both such fine and imprisonment. 3 2. As used in this section, the terms owner and rental agreement shall 4 be defined as in subdivision one of section three hundred ninety-nine-w 5 of the general business law, as added by chapter three hundred seventy- 6 two of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-five. The term construction 7 rental equipment shall mean any equipment or tools generally used in the 8 construction trade and rented to an individual or business under such 9 terms as are agreed upon in writing by the parties to such agreement. 10 3. In any prosecution under paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this 11 section, it is a defense that, at the time the prosecution was 12 commenced, (a) the defendant had recovered possession of the equipment 13 within the time specified in the original rental agreement or any amend- 14 ment thereto, unencumbered as a result of the unlawful disposition, and 15 (b) the owner had suffered no material economic loss as a result of the 16 unlawful disposition. 17 4. In any prosecution under paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this 18 section, it is a defense that at the time the prosecution was commenced, 19 (a) the owner had recovered possession of the equipment and suffered no 20 economic loss as a result of the unlawful retention, or (b) the owner 21 failed to comply with the provisions of section three hundred ninety- 22 nine-w of the general business law, as added by chapter three hundred 23 seventy-two of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-five. 24 Misapplication of construction rental equipment is a class E felony. 25 § 2. Section 165.15 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi- 26 vision 12 to read as follows: 27 12. Obtaining or having control over commercial construction rental 28 equipment of another person or entity pursuant to a rental agreement, he 29 or she fails to return such equipment to the owner thereof on the date 30 specified for return in such rental agreement. 31 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 32 have become a law.
