§ 31-42-5 - Garage keepers and abandoned motor vehicles.
SECTION 31-42-5
§ 31-42-5 Garage keepers and abandonedmotor vehicles. – (a) Any motor vehicle left for more than ten (10) days in a garage operated forcommercial purposes after notice by registered mail, return receipt requestedto the owner to pick up the vehicle, or for more than ten (10) days after theperiod when, pursuant to contract, the vehicle was to remain on the premises,and any motor vehicle left for more than ten (10) days in the garage by someoneother than the registered owner or left by a person authorized to havepossession of the motor vehicle, shall be deemed an abandoned vehicle and shallbe reported by the garage keeper to the police department. Any garage keeperwho fails to report the possession of the vehicle within ten (10) days after itbecomes abandoned within the meaning of this section shall no longer have anyclaim for storage of the vehicle.
(b) All abandoned vehicles left in garages may be taken intocustody by the police department and sold in accordance with the procedures setforth in this chapter unless the motor vehicle is reclaimed and the garagekeeper is paid. The proceeds of the sale shall be first applied to the garagekeepers' charges for storage and any surplus proceeds shall be distributed inaccordance with § 31-42-4. Except for the termination of a claim forstorage for failure to report an abandoned motor vehicle, nothing in thissection shall be construed to impair any lien of a garage keeper under the lawsof this state, or the right of a lienholder to foreclose.
(c) For the purposes of this section, "garage keeper" meansany operator of a parking place establishment or motor vehicle storage facility.