[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Marion
as Ch. 80 of the 2000 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
For use in this chapter the following terms are defined:
Any of the following:
A vehicle that has been left unattended on public property for
more than 24 hours or a vehicle left unattended on public property
which lacks current registration plates or two or more wheels or other
parts which renders the vehicle totally inoperable.
[Ord. No. 10-29]
A vehicle that has remained illegally on public property for
more than 24 hours.
A vehicle that has been unlawfully parked or placed on private
property without the consent of the owner or person in control of
the property for more than 24 hours.
A vehicle that has been legally impounded by order of a police
authority and has not been reclaimed for a period of 10 days. However,
a police authority may declare the vehicle abandoned within the ten-day
period by commencing the notification process.
Any vehicle parked on the highway determined by a police authority
to create a hazard to other vehicle traffic.
A vehicle that has been impounded pursuant to § 321J.4B
of the Code of Iowa by order of the court and whose owner has not
paid the impoundment fees after notification by the person or agency
responsible for carrying out the impoundment order.
Any City or public agency organized for the disposal of solid
waste, or any person whose business it is to convert a vehicle to
junk, processed scrap or scrap metal, or otherwise to wreck, or dismantle
vehicles.
The Iowa state patrol or any law enforcement agency of a
county or city.
A police authority, upon the authority's own initiative or upon
the request of any other authority having the duties of control of
highways or traffic, shall take into custody an abandoned vehicle
on public property and may take into custody any abandoned vehicle
on private property. A police authority taking into custody an abandoned
vehicle which has been determined to create a traffic hazard shall
report the reasons constituting the hazard in writing to the appropriate
authority having duties of control of the highway. The police authority
may employ its own personnel, equipment and facilities or hire a private
entity, equipment and facilities for the purpose of removing, preserving,
storing, or disposing of abandoned vehicles. If a police authority
employs a private entity to dispose of abandoned vehicles, the police
authority shall provide the private entity with the names and addresses
of the registered owners, all lienholders of record, and any other
known claimant to the vehicle or the personal property found in the
vehicle.
[Amended 3-23-2023 by Ord. No. 23-02]
A.
The police authority or private entity which takes
into custody an abandoned vehicle shall send notice by certified mail
that the vehicle has been taken into custody no more than 20 days
after taking custody of the vehicle. Notice shall be sent to the last
known address of record of the last known registered owner of the
vehicle, all lienholders of record, and any other known claimant to
the vehicle.
B.
Notice shall be deemed given when mailed. The notice
shall include all of the following:
(1)
A description of the year, make, model and serial
number of the vehicle.
(2)
The location of the facility where the vehicle
is being held.
(3)
Information for the persons receiving the notice
of their right to reclaim the vehicle and personal property contained
therein within 10 days after the effective date of the notice. Persons
may reclaim the vehicle or personal property upon payment of all towing,
preservation, and storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle
in custody and upon payment of the costs of the notice.
(4)
A statement that failure of the owner, lienholders
or claimants to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle or personal
property within the time provided shall be deemed a waiver by the
owner, lienholders and claimants of all right, title, claim and interest
in the vehicle or personal property.
(5)
A statement that failure to reclaim the vehicle
or personal property is deemed consent for the police authority or
private entity to sell the vehicle at a public auction or dispose
of the vehicle to a demolisher and to dispose of the personal property
by sale or destruction.
C.
If the abandoned vehicle was taken into custody
by a private entity without a police authority's initiative, the notice
shall state that the private entity may claim a garagekeeper's lien
as described in Iowa Code § 321.90, Subsection 1, and may
proceed to sell or dispose of the vehicle.
D.
If the abandoned vehicle was taken into custody
by a police authority or by a private entity hired by a police authority,
the notice shall state that any person claiming rightful possession
of the vehicle or personal property who disputes the planned disposition
of the vehicle or personal property by the police authority or private
entity or of the assessment of fees and charges provided by this section
may ask for an evidentiary hearing before the police authority to
contest those matters.
E.
If the persons receiving the notice do not ask for
a hearing or exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle or personal
property within the ten-day reclaiming period, the owner, lienholders
or claimants shall no longer have any right, title, claim, or interest
in or to the vehicle or the personal property.
F.
A court in any case in law or equity shall not recognize
any right, title, claim, or interest of the owner, lienholders or
claimants after the expiration of the ten-day reclaiming period.
[Amended 3-23-2023 by Ord. No. 23-02]
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 vehicle was abandoned shall be sufficient to meet all requirements of notice under § 305-3. The published notice may contain multiple listings of abandoned vehicles but shall be published within the same time requirements and contain the same information as prescribed for mailed notice in § 305-3.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 80.05, Extension of Time,
of the 2000 Code, which immediately followed this section, was repealed 3-23-2023 by Ord. No. 23-02.
The owner, lienholder or claimant shall pay all towing and storage
fees as established by the storage facility, whereupon the vehicle
shall be released.
If an abandoned vehicle has not been reclaimed as provided herein,
the police authority or private entity shall make a determination
as to whether or not the motor vehicle should be sold for use upon
the highways, and shall dispose of the motor vehicle in accordance
with state law.
[Amended 3-23-2023 by Ord. No. 23-02]
The City or any person upon whose property or in whose possession
is found any abandoned motor vehicle, or any person being the owner
of a motor vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost or destroyed,
may dispose of such motor vehicle to a demolisher for junk, without
a title and without notification procedures, if such motor vehicle
lacks an engine or two or more wheels or other structural part which
renders the vehicle totally inoperable. The police authority shall
give the applicant a certificate of authority. The applicant shall
then apply to the County Treasurer for a junking certificate within
30 days of receipt of the certificate of authority and shall surrender
the certificate of authority in lieu of the certificate of title.
Proceeds from the sale of any abandoned vehicle shall be applied
to the expense of auction, cost of towing, preserving, storing and
notification required in accordance with State law. Any balance shall
be held for the owner of the motor vehicle or entitled lienholder
for 90 days, and then shall be deposited in the State Road Use Tax
Fund. Where the sale of any vehicle fails to realize the amount necessary
to meet costs, the police authority shall apply for reimbursement
from the Department of Transportation.
Any demolisher who purchases or otherwise acquires an abandoned
motor vehicle for junk shall junk, scrap, wreck, dismantle or otherwise
demolish such motor vehicle. A demolisher shall not junk, scrap, wreck,
dismantle or demolish a vehicle until the demolisher has obtained
the junking certificate issued for the vehicle.
