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For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED VEHICLE. Any of the following:
(1) A vehicle that has been left unattended on public property for more than 24 hours and lacks current registration plates or two or more wheels or other parts which renders the vehicle totally inoperable;
(2) A vehicle that has remained illegally on public property for more than 24 hours;
(3) 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;
(4) A vehicle that has been legally impounded by order of a police authority and has not been reclaimed for a period of ten days. However, a police authority may declare the vehicle abandoned within the ten-day period by commencing the notification process;
(5) Any vehicle parked on the highway determined by a police authority to create a hazard to other vehicle traffic; and
(6) A vehicle that has been impounded pursuant to Iowa Code § 321J.4B 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.
DEMOLISHER. 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.
POLICE AUTHORITY. The Iowa State Patrol or any law enforcement agency of a county or city.
(1999 Code, § 80.01)
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.
(Iowa Code § 321.89(2)) (1999 Code, § 80.02)
The police authority or private entity which takes into custody an abandoned vehicle shall notify, within 20 days, by certified mail, the last known registered owner of the vehicle, all lienholders of record and any other known claimant to the vehicle or to personal property found in the vehicle, addressed to their last known addresses of record, that the abandoned vehicle has been taken into custody. Notice shall be deemed given when mailed. The notice shall describe the year, make, model and serial number of the vehicle, describe the personal property found in the vehicle, set forth the location of the facility where the vehicle is being held, and inform the persons receiving the notice of their right to reclaim the vehicle and personal property within ten days after the effective date of the notice 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. The notice shall also state that the 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 and that failure to reclaim the vehicle or personal property is deemed consent to the sale of the vehicle at a public auction or disposal of the vehicle to a demolisher and to disposal of the personal property by sale or destruction. 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 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. 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. 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.
(Iowa Code § 321.89(3a)) (1999 Code, § 80.03)
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