BILL ANALYSIS
AB 14
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 14 (Fuentes)
As Amended April 13, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Hagman, | | |
| |Furutani, Gilmore, Hill, | | |
| |Ma, Skinner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes cities or counties to adopt local ordinances
declaring a motor vehicle to be a public nuisance subject to
impoundment for not more than 30 days upon a valid arrest of a
person who uses the vehicle in the commission or attempted
commission of specified prostitution crimes or illegal commercial
dumping and has one prior conviction for those crimes. An ordinance
may incorporate any combination of all of these offenses.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires that within two working days after impoundment, the
impounding agency shall send a notice by certified mail, return
receipt requested, to the legal owner of the vehicle, at the
address obtained from the department, informing the owner that the
vehicle has been impounded.
2)States the notice shall also include notice of the opportunity for
a post-storage hearing to determine the validity of the storage or
to determine mitigating circumstances establishing that the
vehicle should be released. The impounding agency shall be
prohibited from charging for more than five-days' storage if it
fails to notify the legal owner within two working days after the
impoundment when the legal owner redeems the impounded vehicle.
3)Provides that the impounding agency shall maintain a published
telephone number that provides information 24 hours per day
regarding the impoundment of vehicles and the rights of a legal
owner and a registered owner to request a hearing.
4)Mandates the notice include all of the following information:
a) The name, address, and telephone number of the agency
providing the notice;
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b) The location of the place of storage and description of the
vehicle, that shall include, if available, the model or make,
the manufacturer, the license plate number, and the mileage;
c) The authority and purpose for the removal of the vehicle;
and,
d) A statement that in order to receive a post-storage hearing,
the owners, or their agents, shall request the hearing in
person, writing, or by telephone within 10 days of the date
appearing on the notice.
5)States the post-storage hearing shall be conducted within 48 hours
of the request, excluding weekends and holidays. The public
agency may authorize one of its own officers or employees to
conduct the hearing if that hearing officer is not the same person
who directed the seizure of the vehicle. Failure of the legal and
the registered owners, or their agents, to request or to attend a
scheduled hearing shall satisfy the post-storage hearing
requirement.
6)Requires the agency employing the person who directed the storage
to be responsible for the costs incurred for towing and storage if
it is determined in the post-storage hearing that reasonable
grounds for the storage are not established. Any period during
which a vehicle is subjected to storage under an ordinance adopted
pursuant to this bill shall be included as part of the period of
impoundment.
7)States the impounding agency shall release the vehicle to the
registered owner or his or her agent prior to the end of the
impoundment period under any of the following circumstances:
a) The driver of the impounded vehicle was arrested without
probable cause;
b) The vehicle is a stolen vehicle;
c) The vehicle is subject to bailment and was driven by an
unlicensed employee of a business establishment, including a
parking service or repair garage;
d) The driver of the vehicle is not the sole registered owner
of the vehicle and the vehicle is being released to another
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registered owner of the vehicle who agrees not to allow the
driver to use the vehicle until after the end of the
impoundment period;
e) The registered owner of the vehicle was neither the driver
nor a passenger of the vehicle at the time of the alleged
violation, or was unaware that the driver was using the vehicle
to engage in pimping or pandering, as specified, or
solicitation of prostitution; or,
f) A spouse, registered domestic partner, or other affected
third party objects to the impoundment of the vehicle on the
grounds that it would create a hardship if the subject vehicle
is the sole vehicle in a household. The hearing officer shall
release the vehicle where the hardship to a spouse, registered
domestic partner, or other affected third party created by the
impoundment of the subject vehicle, or the length of the
impoundment, outweigh the seriousness and the severity of the
act in which the vehicle was used.
8)Provides that notwithstanding any provision of law, if a motor
vehicle is released prior to the conclusion of the impoundment
period because the driver was arrested without probable cause,
neither the arrested person nor the registered owner of the motor
vehicle is responsible for towing and storage charges nor shall
the motor vehicle be sold to satisfy those charges.
9)Requires that the registered owner or his or her agent be
responsible for all towing and storage charges related to the
impoundment except as otherwise provided.
10)States no lien sale processing fees shall be charged to the legal
owner who redeems the vehicle prior to the 15th day of
impoundment. Neither the impounding authority nor any vehicle
having possession of the vehicle shall collect from the legal
owner fees associated with towing a storage, as specified, unless
the legal owner voluntarily requests a post-storage hearing.
11)Provides a person operating or in charge of a storage facility
where vehicles are stored, as specified, shall accept a valid bank
credit card or cash for payment of towing, storage and related
fees by a legal or registered owner or the owner's agent claiming
the vehicle. A credit card or debit card shall be in the name of
the person presenting the card. The term "credit card" does not
include one issued by a retail seller and is defined in the Civil
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Code.
12)Requires that if a person operating or in charge of a storage
facility, as specified, does not allow for the use of a credit
card or cash, he or she shall be civilly liable to the owner of
the vehicle or the person who tendered the fees for four times the
amount of the towing, storage, and related fees not to exceed
$500.
13)Mandates a person operating or in charge of the storage facility,
as specified, must have sufficient funds on the premises during
normal business hours to accommodate, and make change for a
reasonable monetary transaction.
14)States credit charges for towing and storage services shall
comply with relevant sections of the Civil Code. Law enforcement
agencies may include the costs of providing for payment by credit
when making agreements with towing companies on rates.
15)Provides a failure by a storage facility to comply with any
applicable conditions, as specified, shall not affect the right of
the legal owner or the legal owner's agent to retrieve the vehicle
if all conditions required of the legal owner or legal owner's
agent are satisfied, as specified.
16)States a vehicle removed and seized under an ordinance adopted
pursuant to this bill shall be released to the legal owner of the
vehicle or the legal owner's agent prior to the end of the
impoundment period if all of the following conditions are met:
a) The legal owner is a motor vehicle dealer, bank, credit
union, acceptance corporation, or other licensed financial
institution legally operating in this state, or is another
person who is not the registered owner and holds a security
interest in the vehicle;
b) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent pays all towing
and storage fees related to the seizure and impoundment of the
vehicle;
c) The legal owner, or his or her agent, shall present to the
law enforcement agency, impounding agency, person in possession
of the vehicle or any person acting on behalf of those
agencies, a copy of the assignment, as specified, a release
from the one responsible governmental agency, a
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government-issued photographic identification card and any one
of the following as determined by the legal owner or his or her
agent: a certificate of repossession for the vehicle; a
security agreement for the vehicle; and, title showing proof of
ownership, as specified;
d) The law enforcement agency, impounding agency, or any person
acting on behalf of those agencies may require the agent of the
legal owner to produce a photocopy or fax of its repossession
agency license or registration issued pursuant to the Business
and Professions Code. Any document may be originals,
photocopies, or faxes, or may be transmitted electronically and
need not be notarized;
e) Administrative costs, as specified, shall not be charged to
the legal owner, as specified, unless he or she requests a
post-storage hearing. No agency may require a post-storage
hearing as a requirement for release of a vehicle. Copies of
all documents must be provided to the legal owner except for
the vehicle evidentiary log book. The legal owner shall
indemnify and hold harmless a storage facility from any claims
arising out of the release of the vehicle to the legal owner or
his or her agent and from any damage to the vehicle after its
release, including the reasonable costs associated with
defending any such claims; and,
f) A failure by a storage facility to comply with any
applicable conditions set forth in this bill shall not affect
the right of the legal owner or his or her agent to retrieve
the vehicle if all the conditions are met, as specified.
17)States a legal owner, or his or her agent, who meets the
requirements for release of a vehicle, as specified, shall not be
required to request a post-storage hearing as a requirement for
release of the vehicle to the legal owner or the legal owner's
agent.
18)Provides a legal owner, or his or her agent, who meets the
requirements for release of a vehicle, as specified, shall not
release the vehicle to the registered owner of the vehicle or an
agent of the registered owner unless the registered owner is a
rental car agency, until after the termination of the impoundment
period.
19)States prior to relinquishing the vehicle, the legal owner may
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require the registered owner to pay all towing and storage charges
related to the seizure and impoundment.
20)Provides a vehicle removed and seized pursuant to an ordinance
adopted pursuant to this bill shall be released to a rental car
agency prior to the end of the impoundment period if the agency is
either the legal owner or registered owner of the vehicle and the
agency pays all towing and storage fees related to the seizure and
impoundment of the vehicle.
21)States the owner of a rental vehicle that was seized under an
ordinance adopted pursuant to this bill may continue to rent the
vehicle upon recovery of the vehicle. However, the rental car
agency shall not rent another vehicle to the driver of the vehicle
that was seized until the impoundment period has expired. The
rental car agency may require the person to whom the vehicle was
rented to pay all towing and storage charges related to the
seizure and impoundment.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Recently, the California
Supreme Court, in O'Connell v. City of Stockton , struck down a
vehicle forfeiture ordinance on the grounds that the area of vehicle
forfeiture is fully occupied by the State, and the ordinance was
therefore preempted by state law. Although it did not reach the
question, the Court was also concerned about whether the ordinance
violated substantive and procedural due process. This decision
throws into question the authority of cities and counties to pass
vehicle impoundment ordinances. AB 14 expressly grants local
governments the authority to regulate in the area of nuisance
abatement vehicle impoundment so long as certain guidelines are
adhered to. Specifically, AB 14 allows local governments to adopt
ordinances intended to abate nuisances created by vehicles that are
involved in certain prostitution-related criminal offenses (Penal
Code Sections 647(b), 266h and 266i)."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
AB 14
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FN:
0000297