(a) 
A motor vehicle is abandoned if the vehicle is left in a storage facility operated for commercial purposes after the 10th day after the date on which:
(1) 
The garagekeeper gives notice by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known registered owner of the vehicle and to each lienholder of record of the vehicle under Tex. Transp. Code, chapter 501, to remove the vehicle;
(2) 
A contract for the vehicle to remain on the premises of the facility expires; or
(3) 
The vehicle was left in the facility, if the vehicle was left by a person other than the registered owner or a person authorized to have possession of the vehicle under a contract of use, service, storage, or repair.
(b) 
If notice sent under subsection (a)(1) is returned unclaimed by the post office, substituted notice is sufficient if published in one newspaper of general circulation in the area where the vehicle was left.
(c) 
The garagekeeper shall report the abandonment of the motor vehicle to a law enforcement agency and shall pay a fee as provided in the fee schedule to be used by the law enforcement agency for the cost of the notice required by this article or other cost incurred in disposing of the vehicle. A fee paid to the department of public safety shall be used to administer this article.
(d) 
The garagekeeper shall retain custody of an abandoned motor vehicle until the law enforcement agency takes the vehicle into custody under section 8.04.064.
(1995 Code, sec. 95.59; Ordinance 424 adopted 6/5/2001; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
A garagekeeper who acquires custody of a motor vehicle for a purpose other than repair is entitled to towing, preservation, and notification charges and reasonable storage fees, in addition to storage fees earned under a contract, for each day:
(1) 
Not to exceed five days, until the notice described by section 8.04.061(a) is mailed; and
(2) 
After notice is mailed, until the vehicle is removed and all accrued charges are paid.
(b) 
A garagekeeper who fails to report an abandoned motor vehicle to a law enforcement agency within seven days after the date it is abandoned may not claim reimbursement for storage of the vehicle.
(c) 
This article does not impair any lien that a garagekeeper has on a vehicle except for the termination or limitation of a claim for storage for the failure to report the vehicle to the law enforcement agency.
(1995 Code, sec. 95.60; Ordinance 424 adopted 6/5/2001)
(a) 
Prohibited.
A person commits an offense if the person charges a storage fee for a period for which the fee is not authorized by section 8.04.062.
(b) 
Penalty.
An offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $200.00 or more than $1,000.00.
(1995 Code, sec. 95.61; Ordinance 424 adopted 6/5/2001)
(a) 
A law enforcement agency shall take into custody an abandoned vehicle left in a storage facility that has not been claimed in the period provided by the notice under section 8.04.032.
(b) 
The law enforcement agency may use the vehicle as authorized by section 8.04.036 or sell the vehicle at auction as provided by section 8.04.034. If a vehicle is sold, the proceeds of the sale shall first be applied to a garagekeeper’s charges for service, storage, and repair of the vehicle.
(c) 
As compensation for expenses incurred in taking the vehicle into custody and selling it, the law enforcement agency shall retain:
(1) 
Two percent of the gross proceeds of the sale of the vehicle; or
(2) 
All the proceeds if the gross proceeds of the sale are less than $10.00.
(d) 
Surplus proceeds shall be distributed as provided by section 8.04.035.
(e) 
If the law enforcement agency does not take the vehicle into custody before the 31st day after the date notice is sent under section 8.04.032:
(1) 
The law enforcement agency may not take the vehicle into custody; and
(2) 
The storage facility may dispose of the vehicle under Tex. Prop. Code, chapter 70, except that notice under section 8.04.032 satisfies the notice requirements of that chapter.
(1995 Code, sec. 95.62; Ordinance 424 adopted 6/5/2001)