Bill > A4923

This bill amends existing New Jersey law concerning public movers and warehousemen, identified as P.L.1981, c.311 (C.45:14D-1 et seq.), to revise penalties for violations. Specifically, it grants the director the authority to allow regular police officers to issue summonses and impound vehicles for violations of this law, and it significantly increases the civil penalties for willful violations, raising the maximum for a first offense from $2,500 to $5,000 and for subsequent offenses from $5,000 to $20,000, with a portion of these fines dedicated to the Division of Consumer Affairs. The bill also introduces new penalties for unlicensed movers, including potential driver's license suspension and vehicle impoundment, and establishes criminal penalties, specifically a fourth-degree crime, for movers or warehousemen who knowingly withhold a consumer's property after payment for services has been tendered, with potential fines up to $10,000 and imprisonment up to 18 months, and allows police officers to seize and release such property.