Senate Bill No. 129
(By Senators Dittmar, Sharpe, Ross and Dalton)
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[Introduced February 26, 1993; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article twenty-four,
chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
notification of the towing, preservation and storage of an
abandoned or junked motor vehicle to the owner or lienholder
of such motor vehicle.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article twenty-four, chapter seventeen
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
§17-24-8. Notification to motor vehicle owner and lienholder.
(a) The enforcement agency which takes into custody and
possession an abandoned motor vehicle or junked motor vehicle
shall, within seven days after taking custody and possession
thereof, notify the last known registered owner of such motor
vehicle and all lienholders of record that such motor vehicle hasbeen taken into custody and possession, such notification to be
by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The
notice shall contain a description of such motor vehicle,
including the year, make, model, manufacturer's serial or
identification number or any other number which may have been
assigned to such motor vehicle by the commissioner of motor
vehicles and any distinguishing marks; set forth the location of
the facility where such motor vehicle is being held and the
location where such motor vehicle was taken into custody and
possession; inform the owner and any lienholders of record of
their right to reclaim such motor vehicle within ten days after
the date notice was received by the owner or lienholders, upon
payment of all towing, preservation and storage charges resulting
from taking and placing such motor vehicle into custody and
possession, and state that the failure of the owner or
lienholders of record to exercise their right to reclaim such
motor vehicle within such ten-day period shall be deemed a waiver
by the owner and all lienholders of record of all right, title
and interest in such motor vehicle and of their consent to the
sale or disposal of the abandoned motor vehicle or junked motor
vehicle at a public auction or to a licensed salvage yard or
demolisher.
(b) If the identity of the last registered owner of the
abandoned motor vehicle or junked motor vehicle cannot be
determined, or if the certificate of registration or certificate
of title contains no address for the owner, or if it isimpossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identity
and addresses of all lienholders, notice shall be published as a
Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of
article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the
publication area for such publication shall be the county wherein
such motor vehicle was located at the time such enforcement
agency took custody and possession thereof, and such notice shall
be sufficient to meet all requirements of notice pursuant to this
article. Any notice by publication may contain multiple listings
of abandoned motor vehicles and junked motor vehicles. The
notice shall be published within seven days after such motor
vehicle is taken into custody and possession and shall have the
same contents required for a notice pursuant to subsection (a) of
this section, except that the ten-day period shall run from the
date such notice is published as aforesaid.
(c) The consequences and effect of failure to reclaim an
abandoned motor vehicle or junked motor vehicle within the ten-
day period after notice is received by registered or certified
mail or within ten days after the notice is published in a
newspaper as aforesaid shall be set forth in such notice.
(d) The provisions of this section notwithstanding, no owner
or lienholder of an abandoned motor vehicle or junked motor
vehicle taken into custody and possession by an enforcement
agency or persons hired by such enforcement agency may be
required to pay more than the sum of the first five days of
charges for towing, preservation and storage of such motorvehicle resulting from taking and placing such motor vehicle into
custody and possession unless during the first five days the
enforcement agency or persons hired by the enforcement agency
notifies the owner and lienholders of such motor vehicle by
certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, of the
location of the facility where such motor vehicle is being held.
When the owner or lienholders of such motor vehicle are notified
pursuant to this section of the location of the facility where
such motor vehicle is being held, charges incurred on and after
the date such notice is deposited in the United States mail,
postage prepaid, in addition to the sum of the first five days of
charges for towing, preservation and storage of such motor
vehicle resulting from taking and placing such motor vehicle into
custody and possession, may be charged the owner or lienholder of
such motor vehicle who reclaims the motor vehicle pursuant to
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to limit the time that
charges for towing, preservation and storage of abandoned or
junked motor vehicles may accrue against an owner or lienholder
of such motor vehicle to the first five days of such towing,
preservation or storage charges unless notice of the location of
where such motor vehicle is being held is given to the owner or
lienholder of such motor vehicle.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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