ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 390
(Senators Ball, Wooton, Hunter and Love, original sponsors)
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[Passed March 14, 1998; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT 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 allowing
towing companies that have towed an abandoned vehicle, or
licensed motor vehicle dealers who have had a vehicle
abandoned on their property, to acquire title and
registration to that vehicle from the division of motor
vehicles when the vehicle is not claimed by the owner or the
owner cannot otherwise be determined; providing that the
vehicle may then be sold at private sale or public auction
by the towing company or licensed motor vehicle dealer;
changing notification periods; and placing a monetary cap on
application of section.
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:
ARTICLE 24. DISPOSAL OF ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLES, JUNKED MOTOR
VEHICLES, OLD VEHICLE TIRES AND ABANDONED OR
INOPERATIVE HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES.
§17-24-8. Abandoned or junked motor vehicles; notification to
motor vehicle owner and lienholder; charges and
fees; exceptions.
(a) The enforcement agency which takes into custody and
possession an abandoned motor vehicle or junked motor vehicle
shall, within fifteen days after taking custody and possession
thereof, notify the last known registered owner of the motor
vehicle and all lienholders of record that the motor vehicle has
been taken into custody and possession, the notification to be by
registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The
notice shall:
(1) Contain a description of the motor vehicle, including
the year, make, model, manufacturer's serial or identification
number or any other number which may have been assigned to the
motor vehicle by the commissioner of motor vehicles and any
distinguishing marks;
(2) Set forth the location of the facility where the motor vehicle is being held and the location where the motor vehicle
was taken into custody and possession;
(3) Inform the owner and any lienholders of record of their
right to reclaim the 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 the motor vehicle into custody and possession;
and
(4) State that the failure of the owner or lienholders of
record to exercise their right to reclaim the motor vehicle
within the ten-day period shall be deemed a waiver by the owner
and all lienholders of record of all right, title and interest in
the 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 is
impossible 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 the publication shall be the county wherein
the motor vehicle was located at the time the enforcement agency
took custody and possession thereof, and the 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 fifteen days after the 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 the notice is published as aforesaid.
(c) An enforcement agency which hires any person or entity
to take into custody and possession an abandoned or junked motor
vehicle pursuant to this section shall notify the person or
entity of the name and address of the registered owner of the
motor vehicle, if known, and all lienholders of record, if any,
within fifteen days after the vehicle is taken into custody and
possession: Provided, That the requirements of this subsection
shall not apply to motor vehicles for which the registered owner
thereof cannot be ascertained by due diligence or investigation.
(d) The person or entity hired by an enforcement agency to
take into custody or possession an abandoned or junked motor
vehicle shall, within thirty days after the possession, notify the registered owner of the vehicle and all lienholders of
record, if any, as identified by the enforcement agency pursuant
to subsection (c) herein, by registered mail, return receipt
requested, of the location of the facility where the motor
vehicle is being stored and of the owner's liability for all
towing, preservation and storage charges for the motor vehicle.
Upon the issuance of the notice, the identified owner of the
motor vehicle is liable and responsible for all costs for towing,
preservation and storage of the motor vehicle: Provided, That
failure to issue the notice required by this subsection within
thirty days after possession of the motor vehicle relieves the
identified owner of the motor vehicle of any liability for
charges for towing, preservation and storage in excess of the sum
of the first five days of such charges: Provided, however, That
the requirements of this subsection do not apply to motor
vehicles for which the registered owner thereof cannot be
ascertained by due diligence or investigation.
(e) For abandoned or junked vehicles having a retail value
of one thousand dollars or less, as ascertained by values placed
upon vehicles using a standard industry reference book, a person
or entity hired by an enforcement agency to tow such an abandoned
or junked motor vehicle may, if the motor vehicle is not claimed
by the owner or a lienholder after notice within the time set forth in subsection (d) of this section, or 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 of
the owner, or if it is impossible to determine with reasonable
certainty the identity and address of all lienholders after
publication as set forth in subsection (b) of this section, file
an application with the division of motor vehicles for a
certificate of title and registration which, upon payment of the
appropriate fees, shall be issued. The person or entity may then
sell the motor vehicle at private sale or public auction.
(f) For abandoned or junked vehicles having a retail value
of one thousand dollars or less, as ascertained by values placed
upon vehicles using a standard industry reference book, a
licensed motor vehicle dealer, as defined in section one, article
one, chapter seventeen-a of this code may, if a motor vehicle is
abandoned on the property or place of business of the dealer and
is not claimed by the owner or a lienholder after notice within
the time set forth in subsection (d) of this section, or if the
identity of the last registered owner of the abandoned motor
vehicle cannot be determined, or if the certificate of
registration or certificate of title contains no address of the
owner, or if it is impossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identity and address of all lienholders after
publication as set forth in subsection (b) of this section, file
an application with the division of motor vehicles for a
certificate of title and registration which, upon payment of the
appropriate fees, shall be issued. The dealer may then sell the
motor vehicle at private sale or public auction.