80.02 AUTHORITY TO TAKE POSSESSION OF ABANDONED VEHICLES.

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. 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. A property owner or other person in control of private property may employ a private entity that is a garage keeper to dispose of an abandoned vehicle, and the private entity may take into custody the abandoned vehicle without a police authority’s initiative. 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.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 321.89[2])

80.03 NOTICE BY MAIL.

1.   A police authority or private entity that 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.

2.   Notice shall be deemed given when mailed. The notice shall include all of the following:

   A.   A description of the year, make, model, and vehicle identification number of the vehicle.

   B.   The location of the facility where the vehicle is being held.

   C.   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 required pursuant to this section.

   D.   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.

   E.   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.

3.   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 garage keeper’s lien as described in Section 321.90, Subsection 1, of the Code of Iowa, and may proceed to sell or dispose of the vehicle.

4.   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.

5.   If the persons receiving notice do not ask for a hearing or exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle or personal property within the 10-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.

6.   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 10-day reclaiming period.

7.   If it is impossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identities and addresses of the last registered owner and 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 Subsection 2 of this section. 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 Subsection 2 of this section.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 321.89[3])

(Section 80.03 – Ord. 3005 – Sep. 21 Supp.)

80.04 RECLAMATION OF ABANDONED VEHICLES.

Prior to driving an abandoned vehicle away from the premises, a person who received or who is reclaiming the vehicle on behalf of a person who received notice under Section 80.03 shall present to the police authority or private entity, as applicable, the person’s valid driver’s license and proof of financial liability coverage as provided in Section 321.20B of the Code of Iowa.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 321.89[3a])

(Ord. 3005 – Sep. 21 Supp.)

80.05 FEES FOR IMPOUNDMENT.

The owner, lienholder, or claimant shall pay fees in an amount set by resolution of the Council, plus towing charges, if stored by the City, or towing and storage fees, if stored in a public garage, whereupon said vehicle shall be released. The amount of towing charges, and the rate of storage charges by privately owned garages shall be established by such facility.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 321.89[3a])

80.06 DISPOSAL OF ABANDONED VEHICLES.

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.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 321.89[4])

80.07 DISPOSAL OF TOTALLY INOPERABLE VEHICLES.

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 and shall surrender the certificate of authority in lieu of the certificate of title.

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 321.90[2e])