An operator of a place of business for garaging, repairing, parking or storing vehicles for the public, in which a vehicle remains unclaimed for a period of thirty days, shall, within five days after the expiration of that period, report in writing to the New Mexico state police at Santa Fe and the sheriff of the county in which the unit is stored, setting forth the make of car, model-year, [and] engine, serial and vehicle numbers of the vehicle unclaimed. A person who fails to report a vehicle as unclaimed in accord with this subsection forfeits all claims and liens for its parking or storing and is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
History: 1953 Comp., § 64-3-203, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 75.
ANNOTATIONSBracketed material. — The bracketed material in this section was inserted by the compiler. It was not enacted by the legislature, and it is not part of the law.
Requirement inapplicable to stolen vehicle returned to owner by sheriff. — The provisions of Section 64-5-3, 1953 Comp. (similar to this section), requiring the owner of an automobile storage business to report unclaimed motor vehicles to the state police and to the sheriff, are not intended to apply to a stolen motor vehicle that has been recovered by the sheriff and towed to owner's place of business at the request of sheriff. Foundation Reserve Ins. Co. v. Faust, 1962-NMSC-176, 71 N.M. 271, 377 P.2d 681.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 61A C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 717.