1-1     By:  Patterson                                         S.B. No. 855

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 28, 1997; March 5, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;

 1-4     March 26, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by the following

 1-5     vote:  Yeas 12, Nays 0; March 26, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                               By:  Nelson

 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 855 in  SECTION 1, Subsection (d), Section 13,

 1-8     Vehicle Storage Facility Act (page 1, lines 37-40, Introduced

 1-9     version), by striking the second sentence and inserting the

1-10     following:

1-11     "The second notice must contain:

1-12                 (1)  the information required under Subsection (b) of

1-13     this section;

1-14                 (2)  a statement of the right of the facility to

1-15     dispose of the vehicle under Section 14B of this article; and

1-16                 (3)  a statement that the failure of the owner or

1-17     lienholder to claim the vehicle before the 30th day after the date

1-18     the second notice was mailed is:

1-19                       (A)  a waiver by that person of all right, title,

1-20     and interest in the vehicle; and

1-21                       (B)  a consent to the sale of the vehicle at a

1-22     public sale."

1-23                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

1-24                                   AN ACT

1-25     relating to the disposal of certain abandoned vehicles by a vehicle

1-26     storage facility.

1-27           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-28           SECTION 1.  Section 13, Vehicle Storage Facility Act (Article

1-29     6687-9a, Revised Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (d) to

1-30     read as follows:

1-31           (d)  If a vehicle for which notice was sent under Subsection

1-32     (a)  of this section has not, before the 61st day after the date

1-33     notice was mailed, been claimed by a person permitted to claim the

1-34     vehicle or been taken into custody by a law enforcement agency

1-35     under Chapter 683, Transportation Code,  the operator of the

1-36     vehicle storage facility shall send a second notice to the

1-37     registered owner and primary lienholder.  The second notice must

1-38     contain the information required under Subsection (b) of this

1-39     section and a statement of the right of the facility to dispose of

1-40     the vehicle under Section 14B of this article.

1-41           SECTION 2.  The Vehicle Storage Facility Act (Article

1-42     6687-9a, Revised Statutes) is amended by adding Section 14B to read

1-43     as follows:

1-44           Sec. 14B.  DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN ABANDONED VEHICLES.  (a) The

1-45     operator of a vehicle storage facility may dispose of a vehicle for

1-46     which notice was sent under Section 13(d) of this article as

1-47     provided by this section if, before the 30th day after the date the

1-48     notice was mailed, the vehicle has not been:

1-49                 (1)  claimed by a person entitled to claim the vehicle;

1-50     or

1-51                 (2)  taken into custody by a law enforcement agency

1-52     under Chapter 683, Transportation Code.

1-53           (b)  An operator entitled to dispose of a vehicle under this

1-54     section may sell the vehicle at a public sale without being

1-55     required to obtain a release or discharge of any lien on the

1-56     vehicle.  The proceeds from the sale of the vehicle shall be

1-57     applied to the charges incurred for the vehicle under Section 14 of

1-58     this article.  The operator shall pay excess proceeds, if any, to

1-59     the person entitled to them.

1-60           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-61     applies to a vehicle stored or parked at a vehicle storage facility

1-62     on or after that date.

1-63           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-64     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-1     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-2     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-3     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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