(a) 
A police department may take into custody an abandoned motor vehicle found on public or private property.
(b) 
A police department may employ its own personnel, equipment, and facilities or hire persons, equipment, and facilities to remove, preserve, and store an abandoned motor vehicle it takes into custody.
(c) 
The police department shall be entitled to reasonable storage fees for:
(1) 
A period of not more than ten (10) days beginning on the day the department takes custody and continuing through the day the department mails notice as provided by this division; and
(2) 
A period beginning on the day after the day the department mails notice and continuing through the day any accrued charges are paid and the vehicle is removed.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.702)
(a) 
A police department that takes into custody an abandoned motor vehicle shall notify not later than the 10th day after taking the motor vehicle into custody, by certified mail, the last known registered owner of the motor vehicle and all lienholders of record pursuant to the Certificate of Title Act (V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 501), that the vehicle has been taken into custody. The notice shall describe the year, make, model, and vehicle identification number of the abandoned motor vehicle, set forth the location of the facility where the motor vehicle is being held, and inform the owner and any lienholders of their right to reclaim the motor vehicle not later than the 20th day after the date of the notice on payment of all towing, preservation, and storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody, or garagekeeper's charges if notice [is] under section 8.06.034 of this article. The notice shall also state that the failure of the owner or lienholders to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided constitutes a waiver by the owner and lienholders of all right, title, and interest in the vehicle and their consent to the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction.
(b) 
If the identity of the last registered owner cannot be determined, if the registration contains no address for the owner, or if it is impossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identity and addresses of all lienholders, notice by one publication in one newspaper of general circulation in the area where the motor vehicle was abandoned is sufficient notice under this division. The notice by publication may contain multiple listings of abandoned vehicles, shall be published within the time requirements prescribed for notice by certified mail, and shall have the same contents required for a notice by certified mail.
(c) 
The consequences and effect of failure to reclaim an abandoned motor vehicle are as set forth in valid notice given under this division.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.703)
If an abandoned motor vehicle has not been reclaimed as provided by section 8.06.032 of this article, the police department shall sell the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction. Proper notice of the public auction shall be given, and, in the case of a garagekeeper's lien, the garagekeeper shall be notified of the time and place of the auction. The purchaser of the motor vehicle takes title to the motor vehicle free and clear of all liens and claims of ownership, shall receive a sales receipt from the police department, and is entitled to register the purchased vehicle and receive a certificate of title. From the proceeds of the sale of an abandoned motor vehicle, the police department shall reimburse itself for the expenses of the auction, the costs of towing, preserving, and storing the vehicle that resulted from placing the abandoned motor vehicle in custody, and all notice and publication costs incurred under section 8.06.032 of this article. Any remainder from the proceeds of a sale shall be held for the owner of the vehicle or entitled lienholder for ninety (90) days and then shall be deposited in a special fund that shall remain available for the payment of auction, towing, preserving, storage, and all notice and publication costs that result from placing another abandoned vehicle in custody, if the proceeds from a sale of another abandoned motor vehicle are insufficient to meet these expenses and costs.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.704)
(a) 
A motor vehicle left for more than ten (10) days in a storage facility operated for commercial purposes after notice is given to the owner as provided by this division, or for more than ten (10) days after a period when under a contract the vehicle was to remain on the premises of the storage facility, or a motor vehicle left for more than ten (10) days in a storage facility by someone other than the registered owner or by a person authorized to have possession of the motor vehicle under a contract of use, service, storage, or repair, is considered an abandoned vehicle, and shall be reported by the garagekeeper to the police department.
(b) 
A garagekeeper who fails to report the possession of an abandoned vehicle within ten (10) days after it becomes abandoned may no longer claim reimbursement for storage of the vehicle.
(c) 
The police department, upon receipt of a report from a garagekeeper of the possession of a vehicle considered abandoned under the provisions of this division, shall follow the notification procedures provided by section 8.06.032 of this article, except that custody of the vehicle shall remain with the garagekeeper until after compliance with the notification requirements. A fee as provided for in the fee schedule found in appendix A of this code shall accompany the report of the garagekeeper to the police department. The fee shall be retained by the police department receiving the report and used to defray the cost of notification or other cost incurred in the disposition of an abandoned motor vehicle. If the department of public safety is the police department involved, this fee shall be deposited in the state treasury and shall be used to defray the cost of administering this division.
(d) 
An abandoned motor vehicle left in a storage facility and not reclaimed after notice is sent in the manner provided by section 8.06.032 of this article shall be taken into custody by the police department and sold in the manner provided by section 8.06.033 of this article. The proceeds of a sale under this section shall first be applied to the garagekeeper's charges for servicing, storage, and repair, but as compensation for the expense incurred by the police department in placing the vehicle in custody and the expense of action, the police department shall retain two percent of the gross proceeds of the sale of each vehicle auctioned, unless the gross proceeds are less than ten dollars ($10.00). If the gross proceeds are less than ten dollars ($10.00), the department shall retain the ten dollars ($10.00) to defray expenses of custody and auction. Surplus proceeds remaining from an auction shall be distributed in accordance with section 8.06.033 of this article.
(e) 
Except for the termination of a claim for storage for failure to report an abandoned motor vehicle, nothing in this article may be construed to impair any lien of a garagekeeper under the laws of this state.
(f) 
The police department shall send notice to the owner of a vehicle by certified mail. The notice shall direct the owner to pick up the vehicle. If the notice is returned by the post office unclaimed, notice by one publication in one newspaper of general circulation in the area where the vehicle was left in storage is sufficient.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.705)
(a) 
A person, firm, corporation, or unit of government on whose property or in whose possession is found any abandoned motor vehicle, and a person who is the owner of a motor vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost, or destroyed, may apply to the state department of transportation for authority to sell, give away, or dispose of the vehicle to a demolisher. Nothing in this division may be construed as being in conflict with the provisions of sections 8.06.062 and 8.06.063 of this article. The application, except one submitted by a unit of government, shall be accompanied by a fee as provided for in the fee schedule found in appendix A of this code, and shall be deposited in the state highway fund.
(b) 
The application must set out the name and address of the applicant, and the year, make, model, and vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle, if ascertainable, together with any other identifying features, and must contain a concise statement of the facts surrounding the abandonment, a statement that the title of the motor vehicle is lost or destroyed, or a statement of the reasons for the defect of title in the owner. The applicant shall execute an affidavit stating that the facts alleged in the application are true and that no material fact has been withheld.
(c) 
If the state department of transportation finds that the application is executed in proper form and shows that the motor vehicle has been abandoned on the property of the applicant or that the motor vehicle is not abandoned but that the applicant appears to be the rightful owner, the department shall follow the notification procedures as provided in section 8.06.032 of this article.
(d) 
If an abandoned motor vehicle is not reclaimed in accordance with section 8.06.032 of this article, the state department of transportation, on notification of that fact by the applicant, shall issue the applicant a certificate of authority to sell the motor vehicle to a demolisher for demolition, wrecking, or dismantling. A demolisher shall accept the certificate in lieu of the certificate of title to the motor vehicle.
(e) 
The state department of transportation may issue the applicant a certificate of authority to dispose of the motor vehicle to a demolisher without following the notification procedures of section 8.06.032 of this article if the motor vehicle is more than eight (8) years old and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable.
(f) 
A person in possession of an abandoned vehicle that was authorized to be towed in by a police department and that is more than eight years old and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable may, on affidavit of that fact and approval of the police department, apply to the state department of transportation for a certificate of authority to dispose of the vehicle to a demolisher for demolition, wrecking, or dismantling only.
(g) 
The state department of transportation rules and forms that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this division will be followed.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.706)
(a) 
A demolisher who purchases or otherwise acquires a motor vehicle to wreck, dismantle, or demolish it is not required to obtain a certificate of title for the motor vehicle in the demolisher's name. After the motor vehicle has been demolished, processed, or changed so that it physically is no longer a motor vehicle, the demolisher shall surrender for cancellation the certificate of title or authority. The state department of transportation shall issue such forms and rules governing the surrender of auction sales receipts and certificates of title as are appropriate. The Certificate of Title Act (V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 501) governs the cancellation of title of the motor vehicle.
(b) 
A demolisher commits an offense if the demolisher fails to keep an accurate and complete record of a motor vehicle purchased or received in the course of business in the manner provided by this section. These records must contain the name and address of the person from whom each motor vehicle was purchased or received and the date of the purchase or receipt. The records shall be open for inspection by the state department of transportation or any police department at any time during normal business hours. A record required by this section must be kept by the demolisher for at least one year after the transaction to which it applies. A demolisher who commits an offense under this section is, on conviction, subject to a fine as provided for in the general penalty provision found in section 1.01.009 of this code by the city.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.707)