§ 93.04 NOTICE TO OWNER AND LIENHOLDER.
   (A)   Upon taking an abandoned motor vehicle into custody under § 93.03 of this code, the Police Department shall send notice of abandonment to:
      (1)   The last known registered owner of each motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor taken into custody by the Police Department or for which a report is received under § 93.08 of this code; and
      (2)   Each lienholder, recorded under Tex. Trans. Code, Ch. 501, of the motor vehicle, or under Tex. Parks & Wildlife Code, Ch. 31, for the watercraft or outboard motor.
   (B)   The notice under division (A) must:
      (1)   Be sent by certified mail not later than the tenth day after the date the Police Department:
         (a)   Takes the abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor into custody; or
         (b)   Receives the report under § 93.08.
      (2)   Specify the year, make, model, and identification number of the item;
      (3)   Give the location of the facility where the item is being held;
      (4)   Inform the owner and lienholder of the right to claim the item not later than the twentieth day after the date of the notice on payment of:
         (a)   Towing, preservation, and storage charges; or
         (b)   Garagekeeper’s charges and fees under § 93.08.
      (5)   State that failure of the owner or lienholder to claim the item during the period specified by division (B)(4) is:
         (a)   A waiver by that person of all right, title, and interest in the item; and
         (b)   Consent to the sale of the item at a public auction.
   (C)   Notice by publication in 1 newspaper of general circulation in the area where the motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor was abandoned is sufficient notice under this section if:
      (1)   The identity of the last registered owner cannot be determined;
      (2)   The registration has no address for the owner; or
      (3)   The determination with reasonable certainty of the identity and address of all lienholders is impossible.
   (D)   Notice by publication:
      (1)   Must be published in the same period that is required by division (B) above for notice by certified mail and contain all of the information required by that division; and
      (2)   May contain a list of more than 1 abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor.
(Ord. 329, passed 11-18-1996)
Statutory reference:
   Notification of owner and lienholders, see Tex. Trans. Code, § 683.012