Senate File 461 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to notification about the custody of abandoned
2motor vehicles.
3BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  Section 321.89, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
22017, is amended to read as follows:
   3a.  A police authority or private entity that takes into
4custody an abandoned vehicle shall notify, within twenty seven
5 days, by certified mail, the last known registered owner of
6the vehicle, all lienholders of record, and any other known
7claimant to the vehicle or to personal property found in the
8vehicle, addressed to the parties’ last known addresses of
9record, that the abandoned vehicle has been taken into custody.
10Notice shall be deemed given when mailed. The notice shall
11describe the year, make, model, and vehicle identification
12number of the vehicle, describe the personal property found
13in the vehicle, set forth the location of the facility where
14the vehicle is being held, and inform the persons receiving
15the notice of their right to reclaim the vehicle and personal
16property within ten days after the effective date of the
17notice upon payment of all towing, preservation, and storage
18charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody and
19upon payment of the costs of notice required pursuant to this
20subsection. The notice shall also state that the failure of
21the owner, lienholders, or claimants to exercise their right
22to reclaim the vehicle or personal property within the time
23provided shall be deemed a waiver by the owner, lienholders,
24and claimants of all right, title, claim, and interest in the
25vehicle or personal property and that failure to reclaim the
26vehicle or personal property is deemed consent to the sale of
27the vehicle at a public auction or disposal of the vehicle to a
28demolisher and to disposal of the personal property by sale or
29destruction. If the abandoned vehicle was taken into custody
30by a private entity without a police authority’s initiative,
31the notice shall state that the private entity may claim a
32garagekeeper’s lien as described in section 321.90, subsection
331, and may proceed to sell or dispose of the vehicle. If the
34abandoned vehicle was taken into custody by a police authority
35or by a private entity hired by a police authority, the notice
-1-1shall state that any person claiming rightful possession of
2the vehicle or personal property who disputes the planned
3disposition of the vehicle or property by the police authority
4or private entity or of the assessment of fees and charges
5provided by this section may ask for an evidentiary hearing
6before the police authority to contest those matters. If the
7persons receiving notice do not ask for a hearing or exercise
8their right to reclaim the vehicle or personal property within
9the ten-day reclaiming period, the owner, lienholders, or
10claimants shall no longer have any right, title, claim, or
11interest in or to the vehicle or the personal property. A
12court in any case in law or equity shall not recognize any
13right, title, claim, or interest of the owner, lienholders,
14or claimants after the expiration of the ten-day reclaiming
15period.
16EXPLANATION
17The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
18the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   19This bill decreases the period of time within which a
20police authority or private entity that takes into custody an
21abandoned vehicle is required to notify by certified mail the
22last known registered owner of the vehicle, all lienholders
23of record, and any other known claimant to the vehicle or to
24personal property found in the vehicle from 20 days to seven
25days.
   
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