BILL ANALYSIS
AB 515
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 515 (Hagman) - As Amended: February 24, 2009
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 10 - 0
Judiciary 10 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill makes several revisions to the laws related to
repossession of motor vehicles, including:
1)Narrowing the definition of lawful experience for qualified
managers of repossession agencies by specifying that lawful
experience does not include performing any work other than
skip tracing, debt collection, or actual collateral recovery.
2)Requiring specified facilities where impounded vehicles are
stored to accept valid credit cards and bank debit cards.
3)Requiring law enforcement agencies that impound vehicles to
remain open, without the necessity of making an appointment,
and to issue a release to the registered owner or legal owner
of a vehicle whenever the agency is open to serve the public.
4)Making it a misdemeanor for a legal owner of an impounded
vehicle to release the vehicle to the registered owner of the
vehicle in certain circumstances.
5)Making various revisions to the Collateral Recovery Act
concerning tow vehicles.
FISCAL EFFECT
Potential non-reimbursable costs for investigation and
prosecution of misdemeanor penalties for violations of the new
requirements under the Collateral Recovery Act offset to some
extent by penalty revenues.
AB 515
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COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill, sponsored by the California Association of
Licensed Repossessors, makes several revisions, including
those described above, to the laws related to the repossession
of motor vehicles under the Collateral Recovery Act. According
to the author, this bill is necessary to "clarify some
ambiguous parts of current law, as well as to make some
changes that will result in better trained repossessors and
safer repossession activity."
2)Related Legislation . This bill is virtually identical to SB
1469 (Calderon) from 2008 that was vetoed due to the late
passage of the 2008-09 budget. In the message the governor
wrote, "I am only signing bills that are the highest priority
for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I
cannot sign it at this time."
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081