Bill > S781

Introduced Session

This bill revises the penalties for violations of the "Public Movers and Warehousemen Licensing Act," P.L.1981, c.311 (C.45:14D-1 et seq.), and authorizes the enforcement of certain provisions of that act by regular police officers. The bill provides that the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, in the Department of Law and Public Safety, will promulgate rules and regulations authorizing a regular police officer to issue a summons to, and impound the motor vehicle of, any person engaging in the business of public moving and storage in violation of the "Public Movers and Warehousemen Licensing Act." The bill also increases the civil penalties levied for any willful violation of the "Public Movers and Warehousemen Licensing Act," from not more than $2,500 for a first offense and not more than $5,000 for a second or subsequent offense, to not more than $5,000 for a first offense and not more than $20,000 for a second or subsequent offense. Any person engaging in the unlicensed practice of activities regulated under the act who violates a provision of the act will be ordered, after a first offense, to delete or block access to an Internet website maintained by the person that advertises the person's unlicensed practice. The person will be liable for an additional penalty of up to $1,000 each day that the website remains viewable to the public. Under the bill, a portion of the civil penalties collected are dedicated to cover the administrative costs of the Division of Consumer Affairs, in an amount determined by the director. The bill stipulates that any person willfully violating any provision of the "Public Movers and Warehousemen Licensing Act" is guilty of a criminal offense, and upon conviction may be punished by a fine of up to $5,000, or by imprisonment of up to six months, or both. The bill also provides that any person engaging in the business of public moving without a license may be subject to a suspension, for a period of no more than three months, of the person's driver's license or commercial driver license, and the impoundment of the motor vehicle used to engage in the unlicensed practice of public moving. Finally, the bill provides that a public mover, warehouseman, or any other person who engages in the business of public moving or storage and who knows, or reasonably should have known, that payment for the lawfully agreed charges for the mover's services, storage services, or other person's services has been tendered by a consumer, must release the consumer's property to the consumer. If the mover, warehouseman, or other person fails to release the consumer's property, then the mover, warehouseman, or other person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree and, upon conviction, will be punished by a fine of up to $10,000, or by imprisonment for up to 18 months, or both. If the mover, warehouseman, or other person fails to release the consumer's property, any regular police officer may take custody of the property and release the property to the consumer.

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Serena DiMaso (R)*,  Thomas Giblin (D)*,  Amy Handlin (R)*,  Paul Sarlo (D)*,  Patrick Diegnan (D),  Pedro Mejia (D),  Declan O'Scanlon (R), 

Approved P.L.2019, c.216. (on 08/09/2019)