Section 369. Conditions precedent to issuing license; issuance and filing of license; posting license

1. If the superintendent shall find that the  financial responsibility, experience, character, and general fitness  of
  the  applicant,  and  of  the  members  thereof  if  the  applicant be a
  co-partnership or association, and of the officers and directors thereof
  if the applicant be a corporation, are such as to command the confidence
  of the community and  to  warrant  belief  that  the  business  will  be
  operated  honestly,  fairly, and efficiently within the purposes of this
  article, and if the superintendent shall find that the granting of  such
  application  will  promote  the convenience and advantage of the area in
  which such business is to be conducted, and if the superintendent  shall
  find that the applicant has available for the operation of such business
  for  each location and for each mobile unit specified in the application
  liquid assets of at least ten thousand dollars, the superintendent shall
  thereupon execute a license  in  duplicate  to  permit  the  cashing  of
  checks,  drafts  and  money  orders in accordance with the provisions of
  this  article  at  the  location  or  in  the  area  specified  in  such
  application.  In  finding  whether  the  application  will  promote  the
  convenience and  advantage  to  the  public,  the  superintendent  shall
  determine  whether  there  is a community need for a new licensee in the
  proposed area to be served. No license shall be issued to  an  applicant
  for  a  license,  at  a location to be licensed which is closer than one
  thousand five hundred eighty-four feet (three-tenths of a mile) from  an
  existing  licensee,  except  with  the  written consent of such existing
  licensee or pursuant to  subdivision  three  of  section  three  hundred
  seventy  of this article, subject to any restriction or condition as the
  superintendent may promulgate  by  regulation;  provided,  however,  the
  superintendent  may permit a location to be licensed that is closer than
  three-tenths of a mile from an existing licensee provided such applicant
  engages in the cashing of checks, drafts or money orders only for payees
  of such checks, drafts or money  orders  that  are  other  than  natural
  persons at the location to be licensed and such applicant was engaged in
  the  cashing  of such checks, drafts or money orders for payees that are
  other than natural persons at such location on or before the  fourteenth
  day of July, two thousand four, and provided further that upon licensing
  any  such  location  by  the superintendent, such license as it pertains
  solely to such location shall not be affected thereafter by  any  change
  of  control  of such license pursuant to section three hundred seventy-a
  of this article, provided that  the  licensee  continues  thereafter  to
  engage at that location in the cashing of checks, drafts or money orders
  only for payees that are other than natural persons and provided further
  that  such  license  shall  bear  a legend stating that such location is
  restricted to the cashing of checks, drafts or  money  orders  only  for
  payees  that  are other than natural persons. The three-tenths of a mile
  distance requirement as set forth in this section  shall  not  apply  in
  cases where the existing licensee is a restricted location as authorized
  in  the  preceding  sentence,  or  is  any  other licensed location that
  engages solely in the cashing of checks, drafts or money orders only for
  payees that are  other  than  natural  persons.  For  purposes  of  this
  section,  such  distance  shall be measured on a straight line along the
  street between the nearest point  of  the  store  fronts  of  the  check
  cashing  facilities.  The  primary  business  of  the  licensee,  at the
  location to be licensed, shall be financial services. The superintendent
  shall transmit one copy of  such  license  to  the  applicant  and  file
  another  in  the office of the department. Notwithstanding the foregoing
  provisions of this subdivision, the superintendent, upon application  by
  an  applicant  and for good cause shown, may permit a reduction from ten

  thousand dollars to not less  than  five  thousand  dollars  of  minimum
  liquid assets required for each location.
    2.  Such  license  shall  state  the  name of the licensee; and if the
  licensee is a co-partnership or association, the names  of  the  members
  thereof;  and  if  the  licensee  is  a  corporation,  the  date  of its
  incorporation; and if the business is to  be  conducted  at  a  specific
  address,  the  address at which such business is to be conducted; and if
  the business is to be conducted through the use of a  mobile  unit,  the
  New  York  state  registration  number  or  other identification of such
  mobile unit and the area in which such mobile unit is authorized  to  do
  business.
    3.  Such  license  shall  be kept conspicuously posted in the place of
  business of the licensee or, in the case of a  mobile  unit,  upon  such
  mobile unit. Such license shall not be transferable or assignable.
    4.  Such  license  shall  remain  in full force and effect until it is
  surrendered by the licensee or revoked or suspended as provided in  this
  article.
    5.  If  the superintendent shall find that the applicant fails to meet
  any of the conditions set forth in subdivision one of this  section,  he
  shall  not  issue such license, and he shall notify the applicant of the
  denial.  If an application is denied or  withdrawn,  the  superintendent
  shall  retain  the investigation fee to cover the costs of investigating
  the application and return the license fee to the applicant.
    6. The superintendent may refuse to issue a license pursuant  to  this
  article  if  he  shall  find  that the applicant, or any person who is a
  director, officer, partner, agent, employee or  substantial  stockholder
  of  the applicant, (a) has been convicted of a crime in any jurisdiction
  or (b) is associating or consorting with any person who has, or  persons
  who  have,  been  convicted  of a crime or crimes in any jurisdiction or
  jurisdictions; provided, however,  that  the  superintendent  shall  not
  issue  such a license if he shall find that the applicant, or any person
  who is a director, officer,  partner,  agent,  employee  or  substantial
  stockholder  of  the  applicant,  has  been convicted of a felony in any
  jurisdiction or of a crime which, if committed within this state,  would
  constitute  a  felony  under  the laws thereof. For the purposes of this
  article, a person shall be deemed to have been convicted of a  crime  if
  such person shall have pleaded guilty to a charge thereof before a court
  or  magistrate,  or shall have been found guilty thereof by the decision
  or judgment of a court or magistrate  or  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury,
  irrespective of the pronouncement of sentence or the suspension thereof,
  unless such plea of guilty, or such decision, judgment or verdict, shall
  have  been set aside, reversed or otherwise abrogated by lawful judicial
  process or unless the person convicted of the crime shall have  received
  a  pardon  therefor  from  the  president  of  the  United States or the
  governor or other pardoning authority  in  the  jurisdiction  where  the
  conviction was had, or shall have received a certificate of good conduct
  granted  by  the  board  of  parole  pursuant  to  the provisions of the
  executive law to remove the disability under  this  article  because  of
  such  conviction.  The  term  "substantial stockholder," as used in this
  subdivision, shall be deemed to refer to a person owning or  controlling
  ten per centum or more of the total outstanding stock of the corporation
  in  which  such  person  is  a  stockholder.  In  making a determination
  pursuant  to  this  subdivision,  the   superintendent   shall   require
  fingerprinting of the applicant. Such fingerprints shall be submitted to
  the  division  of criminal justice services for a state criminal history
  record check, as defined in subdivision one of  section  three  thousand
  thirty-five  of  the  education law, and may be submitted to the federal
  bureau of investigation for a national criminal history record check.

    7. No license  pursuant  to  this  article  shall  be  issued  to  any
  applicant  to  do  business at the place specified in the application as
  the place where the business is to be conducted if,  within  the  twelve
  months  preceding  such  application,  a  license  to engage in business
  pursuant to this article at such place shall have been revoked.