Bill Text: IA SF461 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to notification about the custody of abandoned motor vehicles. (Formerly SSB 1140.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-16 - Subcommittee: Zumbach, Bertrand, and Bisignano. S.J. 108. [SF461 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SF461-Introduced.html

Senate File 461 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  COMMITTEE ON
                                     TRANSPORTATION

                                 (SUCCESSOR TO SSB
                                     1140)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to notification about the custody of abandoned
  2    motor vehicles.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 2242SV (2) 87
    ns/nh

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 321.89, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
  1  2 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    a.  A police authority or private entity that takes into
  1  4 custody an abandoned vehicle shall notify, within twenty seven
  1  5  days, by certified mail, the last known registered owner of
  1  6 the vehicle, all lienholders of record, and any other known
  1  7 claimant to the vehicle or to personal property found in the
  1  8 vehicle, addressed to the parties' last known addresses of
  1  9 record, that the abandoned vehicle has been taken into custody.
  1 10 Notice shall be deemed given when mailed. The notice shall
  1 11 describe the year, make, model, and vehicle identification
  1 12 number of the vehicle, describe the personal property found
  1 13 in the vehicle, set forth the location of the facility where
  1 14 the vehicle is being held, and inform the persons receiving
  1 15 the notice of their right to reclaim the vehicle and personal
  1 16 property within ten days after the effective date of the
  1 17 notice upon payment of all towing, preservation, and storage
  1 18 charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody and
  1 19 upon payment of the costs of notice required pursuant to this
  1 20 subsection. The notice shall also state that the failure of
  1 21 the owner, lienholders, or claimants to exercise their right
  1 22 to reclaim the vehicle or personal property within the time
  1 23 provided shall be deemed a waiver by the owner, lienholders,
  1 24 and claimants of all right, title, claim, and interest in the
  1 25 vehicle or personal property and that failure to reclaim the
  1 26 vehicle or personal property is deemed consent to the sale of
  1 27 the vehicle at a public auction or disposal of the vehicle to a
  1 28 demolisher and to disposal of the personal property by sale or
  1 29 destruction. If the abandoned vehicle was taken into custody
  1 30 by a private entity without a police authority's initiative,
  1 31 the notice shall state that the private entity may claim a
  1 32 garagekeeper's lien as described in section 321.90, subsection
  1 33 1, and may proceed to sell or dispose of the vehicle. If the
  1 34 abandoned vehicle was taken into custody by a police authority
  1 35 or by a private entity hired by a police authority, the notice
  2  1 shall state that any person claiming rightful possession of
  2  2 the vehicle or personal property who disputes the planned
  2  3 disposition of the vehicle or property by the police authority
  2  4 or private entity or of the assessment of fees and charges
  2  5 provided by this section may ask for an evidentiary hearing
  2  6 before the police authority to contest those matters. If the
  2  7 persons receiving notice do not ask for a hearing or exercise
  2  8 their right to reclaim the vehicle or personal property within
  2  9 the ten=day reclaiming period, the owner, lienholders, or
  2 10 claimants shall no longer have any right, title, claim, or
  2 11 interest in or to the vehicle or the personal property. A
  2 12 court in any case in law or equity shall not recognize any
  2 13 right, title, claim, or interest of the owner, lienholders,
  2 14 or claimants after the expiration of the ten=day reclaiming
  2 15 period.
  2 16                           EXPLANATION
  2 17 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 18 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 19    This bill decreases the period of time within which a
  2 20 police authority or private entity that takes into custody an
  2 21 abandoned vehicle is required to notify by certified mail the
  2 22 last known registered owner of the vehicle, all lienholders
  2 23 of record, and any other known claimant to the vehicle or to
  2 24 personal property found in the vehicle from 20 days to seven
  2 25 days.
       LSB 2242SV (2) 87
       ns/nh
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