Duty of Towing and Storage Firm When Removal at Request of Property Owners; Obligations of Repair Facility or Salvage Dealer in Possession of Vehicle

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Motor Vehicles and Traffic
  4. Abandoned, Derelict, and Civil Forfeiture of Motor Vehicles
  5. Abandoned Motor Vehicles
  6. Duty of Towing and Storage Firm When Removal at Request of Property Owners; Obligations of Repair Facility or Salvage Dealer in Possession of Vehicle

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    1. Any towing and storage firm which has removed an unattended motor vehicle from private property at the request of the property owner shall, within three days of the removal, request from the department the identification and addresses of all owners of such vehicle contained in the records of the department; provided, however, that if such vehicle has an out-of-state license plate, such request shall be made to the state where the vehicle is registered or to an entity with access to such state's vehicle registration information. The department shall furnish the requested owner information no later than five days from the date the request was received. The department may charge a fee of no more than $2.00 for such owner information.
    2. The towing and storage firm shall submit notification of the removal by hand delivery, electronic transmission, or telephonic facsimile transmission to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the location from where the motor vehicle was removed no later than one day after submission of the request to the department. Within 24 hours of receipt of the copy of the request described in subsection (a) of this Code section, the local law enforcement agency shall query the criminal justice information system to determine if such motor vehicle has been entered into the criminal justice information system as a stolen vehicle. If such vehicle has been reported as stolen, the local law enforcement agency shall place a phone call to the law enforcement agency that filed such report, providing the name and address of the towing and storage firm who submitted a copy of the request described in subsection (a) of this Code section. The law enforcement agency receiving such phone call shall notify the owner of the vehicle of the location of the vehicle and contact information for the towing and storage firm and shall inform the towing and storage firm that the vehicle has been reported as stolen.
    3. Failure of a peace officer to comply with any provision of this subsection shall not limit the remedies available to any person pursuant to this article.
    1. Any repair facility or salvage dealer which has been in possession of a motor vehicle for at least 15 days without communication from an owner or insurance company and which desires to file a petition pursuant to Code Section 40-11-19.1 shall request from the department the identification and addresses of all owners of such vehicle contained in the records of the department; provided, however, that if such vehicle has an out-of-state license plate, such request shall be made to the state where the vehicle is registered or to an entity with access to such state's vehicle registration information. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "communication" includes any form of communication which can be verifiably documented.
    2. The department shall furnish the requested owner information no later than five days from the date the request was received. The department may charge a fee of no more than $2.00 for such owner information.

(Code 1981, §40-11-16, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 872, § 5/HB 307; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 40/SB 429.)

The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in the first sentence of paragraph (b)(1).


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