(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