HB 1453 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Judiciary recommends the following:
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8	Committee Substitute
9	Remove the entire bill and insert:
10	A bill to be entitled
11	An act relating to vessels; amending s. 328.17, F.S.;
12	revising language with respect to the nonjudicial sale of
13	vessels; providing an effective date.
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15	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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17	Section 1. Section 328.17, Florida Statutes, is amended to
18	read:
19	(Substantial rewording of section. See s. 328.17, F.S.,
20	for present text.)
21	328.17 Nonjudicial sale of vessels.--
22	(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that any
23	nonjudicial sale of any vessel held for unpaid costs, storage
24	charges, or dockage fees, or any vessel held for failure to pay
25	removal costs pursuant to s. 327.53(7), be disposed of pursuant
26	to the provisions of this section.
27	(2) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
28	shall provide certification forms for the nonjudicial sale of
29	vessels as authorized by this section.
30	(3) For purposes of this section, “owner” shall mean the
31	person holding title to the vessel, or any person the marina
32	reasonably believes to be authorized to act for the vessel.
33	(4) A marina, as defined in s. 327.02(19), shall have a
34	possessory lien upon any vessel for storage fees, dockage fees,
35	repairs, improvements, or other work-related storage charges,
36	and for expenses necessary for preservation of the vessel or
37	expenses reasonably incurred in the sale or other disposition of
38	the vessel. The possessory lien shall attach as of the date the
39	vessel is brought to the marina, or as of the date the vessel
40	first occupies rental space at the marina facility. However, in
41	the event of default, the marina must give notice to persons who
42	hold perfected security interests against the vessel under the
43	Uniform Commercial Code in which the owner is named as the
44	debtor.
45	(5) A marina’s possessory lien may be satisfied as
46	follows:
47	(a) The marina shall provide written notice to the
48	vessel’s owner, delivered in person or by certified mail to the
49	owner’s last known address and conspicuously posted at the
50	marina and on the vessel. In addition, the marina shall provide
51	written notice to each recorded lienholder of such vessel
52	registered with this state as shown by the records of the
53	Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, at least 30
54	days prior to the proposed sale.
55	(b) The notice shall include:
56	1. An itemized statement of the marina’s claim, showing
57	the sum due at the time of the notice and the date upon which
58	the sum became due.
59	2. A description of the vessel.
60	3. A demand for payment.
61	4. A conspicuous statement that, unless the claim is paid
62	within the time stated in the notice, the vessel will be
63	advertised for sale or other disposition and will be sold or
64	otherwise disposed of at a specified time and place.
65	5. The name, street address, and telephone number of the
66	marina that the owner may contact to respond to the notice.
67	(6) Any notice given pursuant to this section shall be
68	presumed delivered when it is deposited with the United States
69	Postal Service, certified, and properly addressed with postage
70	prepaid.
71	(7) If the fees and costs that give rise to such a lien
72	are due and unpaid 120 days after the vessel owner is given
73	written notice, the marina may sell the vessel, including its
74	machinery, rigging, and accessories as provided for in
75	subsection (8).
76	(8) The marina shall first publish an advertisement of the
77	sale or other disposition once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in
78	a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the
79	marina is located. Inasmuch as any sale may involve more than
80	one vessel, a single advertisement may be used to dispose of
81	more than one vessel at any one sale.
82	(a) The advertisement shall include:
83	1. A brief and general description of the vessel.
84	2. The address of the marina facility or the address where
85	the marina is located and the name of the owner of the vessel.
86	3. The time, place, and manner of the sale or other
87	disposition. The sale or other disposition shall take place no
88	sooner than 15 days after the first publication.
89	(b) If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the
90	area in which the marina is located, the advertisement shall be
91	posted at least 10 days before the date of the sale or other
92	disposition in no fewer than three conspicuous places in the
93	neighborhood in which the marina is located.
94	(9) Any sale or other disposition of the vessel shall
95	conform to the terms of the notification as provided for in this
96	section and shall be conducted in a commercially reasonable
97	manner, as that term is used in s. 679.610.
98	(10) Before any sale or other disposition of the vessel
99	pursuant to this section, the owner may pay the amount necessary
100	to satisfy the lien and the reasonable expenses incurred under
101	this section and thereby redeem the vessel. Upon receipt of such
102	payment, the marina shall return the property to the owner and
103	thereafter shall have no liability to any person with respect to
104	such vessel.
105	(11) Unless otherwise provided by law, a purchaser in good
106	faith of a vessel sold to satisfy a lien provided for in this
107	section takes the property free of any claims other than a prior
108	lien perfected under the Uniform Commercial Code, despite
109	noncompliance by the marina with the requirements of this
110	section.
111	(12) In the event of a sale under this section, the marina
112	may satisfy its lien from the proceeds of the sale, provided the
113	marina’s lien has priority over all other liens on the vessel
114	other than a prior lien perfected under the Uniform Commercial
115	Code. The lien rights of secured lienholders are automatically
116	transferred to the remaining proceeds of the sale. The balance,
117	if any, shall be held by the marina for delivery on demand to
118	the owner. A notice of any balance shall be delivered by the
119	marina to the owner in person or by certified mail to the last
120	known address of the owner. If the owner does not claim the
121	balance of the proceeds within 1 year after the date of sale,
122	the proceeds shall be deemed abandoned, and the marina shall
123	have no further obligation with regard to the payment of the
124	balance. In the event that the marina’s lien does not have
125	priority over all other liens, the sale proceeds shall be held
126	for the benefit of the holders of those liens having priority. A
127	notice of the amount of the sale proceeds shall be delivered by
128	the marina to the owner or secured lienholder in person or by
129	certified mail to the owner’s or the secured lienholder’s last
130	known address. If the owner or the secured lienholder does not
131	claim the sale proceeds within 1 year after the date of sale,
132	the proceeds shall be deemed abandoned, and the owner or the
133	secured lienholder shall have no further obligation with regard
134	to the payment of the proceeds.
135	(13) In making application for transfer of title of a
136	vessel sold pursuant to this section, the new owner shall
137	establish proof of ownership by submitting with the application,
138	which includes the applicable fees and the original bill of sale
139	executed by the marina, a copy of each registered or certified
140	letter sent by the marina to the previous owner and lienholder
141	and a certified copy of the public notice of intent to sell
142	published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in
143	which the marina is located. At the time the purchase price is
144	paid, the marina shall provide the documentation required by
145	this subsection to the purchaser.
146	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.