N.J. legislator takes aim at temporary license plate black market

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Newark Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz introduced a bill on Monday aimed at making major reforms to New Jersey’s abused system for issuing temporary paper license plates to motorists.

The reforms come on the heels of an extensive seven-month Streetsblog investigation which found multiple cases of fraud involving temporary tags in both New Jersey and New York City. Investigation findings have uncovered that multiple licensed used car dealers regularly abuse loose regulations in various states to sell fake paper tags which are then used by drivers to avoid accountability.

In an effort to tackle this extensive black market, Ruiz’s bill looks to redesign the state’s temporary tag template with new security features, and require dealers to provide evidence of sale among other documents. Additionally, the bill criminalizes the sale and possession of an illegal temporary tag.