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