BILL ANALYSIS
AB 14
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 14 (Fuentes)
As Amended March 12, 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 either of
those crimes. 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
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providing the notice;
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;
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d) The driver of the vehicle is not the sole registered
owner of the vehicle and the vehicle is being released to
another 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
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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 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)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, presents to the
law enforcement agency, impounding agency, person in
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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
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.
16)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.
17)Provides a legal owner, or his or her agent, who meets the
requirements for release of a vehicle, as specified, shall not
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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.
18)States prior to relinquishing the vehicle, the legal owner
may require the registered owner to pay all towing and storage
charges related to the seizure and impoundment.
19)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.
20)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)."
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Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000278