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An Act Relating to Abandoned Vehicles
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §1852, as amended by PL 2007, c. 150, §2, is further amended to read:
§ 1852.Abandonment defined
For the purposes of this subchapter, a vehicle is considered "abandoned" if the owner or lienholder does not retrieve it and pay all reasonable charges for towing, storing and authorized repair of the vehicle within 714 days after the notices to the owner and lienholder are sent by the Secretary of State or 714 days after the advertisement is published as required in section 1854, subsection 4. There is a rebuttable presumption that the last owner of record of a motor vehicle found abandoned as shown in the files of the office of the Secretary of State is the owner of the motor vehicle at the time it was abandoned and the person who abandoned it.
Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §1854, sub-§4, ¶B, as amended by PL 2007, c. 150, §5, is further amended to read:
 
B. State that if the owner of the vehicle or lienholder has not properly retrieved it and paid all reasonable charges for its towing, storage and repair within 714 days from the publication, ownership of the vehicle passes to the owner of the premises where the vehicle is located; and
Sec. 3. 29-A MRSA §1856, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 150, §6, is further amended to read:
 
1. Evidence of compliance.   A person who has complied with section 1854, subsection 4 shall present evidence of compliance to the Secretary of State immediately after the 7-day14-day notice period. The Secretary of State may not issue a letter of ownership or certificate of title until at least 21 days after the date on which the person who has possession of and control over the vehicle notified the Secretary of State by complying with section 1854, subsections 1 and 2.
Sec. 4. 29-A MRSA §1857, as amended by PL 2007, c. 150, §7, is further amended to read:
§ 1857.Limits
If the notification to the Secretary of State required by section 1854 is made more than 714 days after receipt of a vehicle described in section 1851, the person holding the vehicle may not collect more than 714 days of storage fees. Daily storage charges must be reasonable and total storage charges may not exceed $900 for a 30-day period.
 
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 125th Legislature, First Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.