Florida Senate - 2023 SB 438
By Senator Rodriguez
40-00661-23 2023438__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to towing vehicles; amending s.
3 323.001, F.S.; providing construction; prohibiting
4 investigating agencies from releasing motor vehicles
5 towed to an agency’s storage facility until certain
6 proof of payment is presented to the agency;
7 specifying that investigating agencies that do not
8 obtain proof of payment must pay certain charges
9 within a specified timeframe; requiring investigating
10 agencies to pay wrecker operators’ charges relating to
11 towing and storage within a specified timeframe if
12 certain judicial findings are made; amending s.
13 713.78, F.S.; revising the timeframe required for
14 sending notices of lien; revising fees relating to
15 obtaining the release of a vehicle or vessel with a
16 claimed lien; deleting the definition of the term
17 “administrative fee”; revising the definition of the
18 term “third-party service”; specifying that proof of
19 mailing by a third-party service is proof that a
20 towing-storage operator made a good faith effort to
21 comply with specified notice requirements; preempting
22 to the state the regulation of claiming a lien for the
23 recovery, removal, towing, or storage of a vehicle or
24 vessel; providing an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection (2),
29 and subsection (3) of section 323.001, Florida Statutes, are
30 amended to read:
31 323.001 Wrecker operator storage facilities; vehicle
32 holds.—
33 (1) An investigating agency may place a hold on a motor
34 vehicle stored within a wrecker operator’s storage facility for
35 a period not to exceed 5 days, excluding holidays and weekends,
36 unless extended in writing. This subsection may not be construed
37 to prohibit an investigating agency from having a wrecker
38 operator tow a motor vehicle directly from the scene of the tow
39 to the investigating agency’s storage facility. If a motor
40 vehicle is towed directly from the scene of the tow to the
41 investigating agency’s storage facility, the vehicle may not be
42 released by the investigating agency to the owner or lienholder
43 of the vehicle until proof of payment of the towing and storage
44 charges incurred by the wrecker operator is presented to the
45 investigating agency. If the investigating agency releases the
46 vehicle to the owner or lienholder of the vehicle without
47 obtaining proof of payment, the investigating agency must pay
48 the wrecker operator the accrued towing and storage charges
49 within 60 days after the vehicle is released.
50 (2) The investigating agency must notify the wrecker
51 operator in writing within 5 days, excluding holidays and
52 weekends, whether the hold is to be continued. If no
53 notification follows this period of time, the wrecker operator
54 may release the vehicle to the designated person pursuant to s.
55 713.78.
56 (a) If the hold is to continue beyond 5 days, excluding
57 holidays and weekends, the investigating agency may have the
58 vehicle removed to a designated impound lot, in which event the
59 vehicle will not be released by the investigating agency to the
60 owner or lienholder of the vehicle until proof of payment of the
61 towing and storage charges incurred by the wrecker operator is
62 presented to the investigating agency. If the investigating
63 agency releases the vehicle to the owner or lienholder of the
64 vehicle without obtaining proof of payment, the investigating
65 agency must pay the wrecker operator the accrued towing and
66 storage charges within 60 days after the vehicle is released.
67 (3) If there is a judicial finding of no probable cause for
68 having continued the immobilization or impoundment, the
69 investigating agency ordering the hold must pay the wrecker
70 operator the accrued charges for any towing and storage within
71 60 days after the judicial finding.
72 Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4), paragraph (a)
73 of subsection (15), and paragraph (a) of subsection (16) of
74 section 713.78, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (g)
75 is added to subsection (16), and subsection (18) is added to
76 that section, to read:
77 713.78 Liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles
78 and vessels.—
79 (4)
80 (c) The notice of lien must be sent by certified mail to
81 the registered owner, the insurance company insuring the vehicle
82 notwithstanding s. 627.736, and all other persons claiming a
83 lien thereon no earlier than 6 hours before and no later than
84 within 7 business days, excluding Saturday and Sunday, after the
85 date of storage of the vehicle or vessel. However, in no event
86 shall the notice of lien be sent less than 30 days before the
87 sale of the vehicle or vessel. The notice must state:
88 1. If the claim of lien is for a vehicle, the last 8 digits
89 of the vehicle identification number of the vehicle subject to
90 the lien, or, if the claim of lien is for a vessel, the hull
91 identification number of the vessel subject to the lien, clearly
92 printed in the delivery address box and on the outside of the
93 envelope sent to the registered owner and all other persons
94 claiming an interest therein or lien thereon.
95 2. The name, physical address, and telephone number of the
96 lienor, and the entity name, as registered with the Division of
97 Corporations, of the business where the towing and storage
98 occurred, which must also appear on the outside of the envelope
99 sent to the registered owner and all other persons claiming an
100 interest in or lien on the vehicle or vessel.
101 3. The fact of possession of the vehicle or vessel.
102 4. The name of the person or entity that authorized the
103 lienor to take possession of the vehicle or vessel.
104 5. That a lien as provided in subsection (2) is claimed.
105 6. That charges have accrued and include an itemized
106 statement of the amount thereof.
107 7. That the lien is subject to enforcement under law and
108 that the owner or lienholder, if any, has the right to a hearing
109 as set forth in subsection (5).
110 8. That any vehicle or vessel that remains unclaimed, or
111 for which the charges for recovery, towing, or storage services
112 remain unpaid, may be sold free of all prior liens 35 days after
113 the vehicle or vessel is stored by the lienor if the vehicle or
114 vessel is more than 3 years of age or 50 days after the vehicle
115 or vessel is stored by the lienor if the vehicle or vessel is 3
116 years of age or less.
117 9. The address at which the vehicle or vessel is physically
118 located.
119 (15)(a) A lienor or the lienor’s agent may charge a $75
120 notification an administrative fee plus the actual costs of
121 complying with the requirements of this section to the
122 registered owner or a person claiming a lien against the vehicle
123 or vessel to obtain release of the vehicle or vessel from the
124 claim of lien imposed under this section. Such notification
125 administrative fee plus the actual costs of complying with the
126 requirements of this section may not exceed $250. For purposes
127 of this paragraph, the term “administrative fee” means a lien
128 fee or any fee imposed by the lienor or the lienor’s agent for
129 administrative costs added to the amount due for towing and
130 storing the vehicle or vessel.
131 (16) A towing-storage operator must use a third-party
132 service approved by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
133 Vehicles to transmit all notices required by this section. If
134 there is no third-party service approved by the department, the
135 towing-storage operator may mail the notices and provide
136 evidence of compliance with this section upon submission of an
137 application for certificate of title or certificate of
138 destruction.
139 (a) For purposes of this subsection, the term “third-party
140 service” means a qualified business entity that, upon a request
141 submitted through a website by a towing-storage operator:
142 1. Accesses the owner’s, lienholder’s, and insurer’s
143 information, as applicable, for a vehicle or vessel from the
144 department.
145 2. Accesses the National Motor Vehicle Title Information
146 System records to obtain the last state of record of the vehicle
147 only when there is not a current registration record for the
148 vehicle or vessel on file with the department.
149 2. Accesses the owner, lienholder, and insurer information,
150 as applicable, for a vehicle or vessel from the department.
151 3. Electronically generates the notices required of a
152 towing-storage operator by this section through the website.
153 4. Prints and sends the notices required under this section
154 to each owner, lienholder, and insurer of record by certified
155 mail.
156 5. Electronically returns tracking information or other
157 proof of mailing and delivery of the notices to the towing
158 storage operator.
159 6. Electronically reports to the department, via an
160 electronic data exchange process using a web interface, the
161 following information related to the towing and storage notice:
162 a. The vehicle identification number or vessel hull
163 identification number.
164 b. The license plate number.
165 c. The name and address of the towing-storage operator or
166 lienor.
167 d. The physical location of the vehicle or vessel.
168 e. The date on which the vehicle or vessel was towed.
169 f. The amount of storage fees owed at the time of the
170 notice.
171 g. The date of assessment of storage charges.
172 h. The dates on which the notice was mailed and delivered.
173 i. Other information required by the department.
174 (g) If a towing-storage operator uses a third-party service
175 approved by the department to provide notice required by this
176 section, proof of mailing by the third-party service is proof
177 that the towing-storage operator made a good faith effort to
178 comply with such notice requirement, regardless of whether the
179 recipient accepts delivery or otherwise receives notice.
180 (18) The regulation of claiming a lien for the recovery,
181 removal, towing, or storage of a vehicle or vessel, including,
182 but not limited to, notification fees, is preempted to the
183 state, and this section supersedes any county or municipal
184 ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, or otherwise to the
185 contrary.
186 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.