Liability for costs of preservation and storage of vehicle

  1. Law
  2. Maryland Code
  3. Transportation
  4. Vehicle Laws -- Respective Powers of State and Local Authorities; Disposition of Abandoned Vehicles
  5. Abandoned Vehicles
  6. Liability for costs of preservation and storage of vehicle

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    (a)    This section applies to any vehicle sold by a police department of Baltimore City, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, or a municipal corporation in Prince George’s County or Montgomery County under this subtitle as an abandoned vehicle, and to any vehicle sold pursuant to an ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, an ordinance or local law enacted by Prince George’s County or Montgomery County, or an ordinance enacted by a municipal corporation in Prince George’s County or Montgomery County governing vehicles that are:

        (1)    Abandoned and unclaimed;

        (2)    Reported stolen, recovered, and subsequently unclaimed; or

        (3)    Involved in an accident, removed by police, and subsequently unclaimed.

    (b)    If the money collected from the sale of a vehicle subject to this section is not enough to reimburse a police department or its agent for the costs of towing, preserving, and storing the vehicle and for the expenses of sale, including all publication and notice costs, the last registered owner shall be liable to the police department or its agent for the deficiency. For purposes of this subsection, the costs chargeable to an owner for the preservation and storage of a vehicle may not exceed $300.

    (c)    If a vehicle subject to this section is transferred by the registered owner after it has been towed or impounded and before its sale at auction, and the transferee is given a copy of the notice required under § 25-204 of this subtitle, by the transferor or by the towing or impounding agency, then the transferee shall be liable for the costs provided by this section.

    (d)    The liability provided by this section does not apply to the registered owner of a vehicle who has made a bona fide sale or gift of the vehicle to another person prior to its being towed or impounded. The registered owner has the burden of showing that a bona fide sale or gift of the vehicle has occurred.

    (e)    The liability provided by this section does not apply in any case in which notice as required by § 25-204(c) of this subtitle has not been provided.


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