Bill Text: FL S0332 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Wrecker Operators
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Community Affairs [S0332 Detail]
Download: Florida-2024-S0332-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2024 CS for SB 332
By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Burgess
596-02422-24 2024332c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to wrecker operators; amending ss.
3 125.0103 and 166.043, F.S.; requiring counties and
4 municipalities, respectively, to establish maximum
5 rates for the storage of electric vehicles or
6 alternative fuel motor vehicles in a wrecker
7 operator’s storage facilities; authorizing such
8 maximum rates to exceed a specified rate; amending s.
9 323.001, F.S.; requiring a person, an entity, an
10 office, or an agency that orders a vehicle to be
11 stored at a wrecker operator’s facility to take
12 possession of the vehicle within a specified
13 timeframe; creating s. 323.003, F.S.; authorizing a
14 wrecker operator to charge certain fees under certain
15 circumstances; amending s. 713.78, F.S.; replacing the
16 term “law enforcement agency” with “governmental
17 entity”; revising the notice requirements for certain
18 unclaimed vehicles; making technical changes;
19 providing an effective date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
24 section 125.0103, Florida Statutes, to read:
25 125.0103 Ordinances and rules imposing price controls.—
26 (1)
27 (d) Counties must establish maximum rates that may be
28 charged by a wrecker operator for the storage of electric
29 vehicles or alternative fuel motor vehicles in the operator’s
30 storage facilities. Such rates may exceed the rate that is
31 charged for the cost of storing vehicles that run solely on
32 gasoline or diesel fuels.
33 Section 2. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
34 section 166.043, Florida Statutes, to read:
35 166.043 Ordinances and rules imposing price controls.—
36 (1)
37 (d) Municipalities must establish maximum rates that may be
38 charged by a wrecker operator for the storage of electric
39 vehicles or alternative fuel motor vehicles in the operator’s
40 storage facilities. Such rates may exceed the rate that is
41 charged for the cost of storing vehicles that run solely on
42 gasoline or diesel fuels.
43 Section 3. Subsection (7) of section 323.001, Florida
44 Statutes, is amended to read:
45 323.001 Wrecker operator storage facilities; vehicle
46 holds.—
47 (7) When a vehicle owner is found guilty of, or pleads nolo
48 contendere to, the offense that resulted in a hold being placed
49 on his or her vehicle, regardless of the adjudication of guilt,
50 the owner must pay the accrued towing and storage charges
51 assessed against the vehicle. If a vehicle is stored at a
52 wrecker operator’s storage facility for more than 30 days, the
53 person, entity, office, or agency that orders the vehicle to be
54 stored for evidentiary purposes at the wrecker operator’s
55 storage facility must take possession of the vehicle within 30
56 days after the first day of storage.
57 Section 4. Section 323.003, Florida Statutes, is created to
58 read:
59 323.003 Wrecker operator fees.—A wrecker operator may
60 charge actual cost plus 10 percent for the cleanup, containment,
61 and disposal of pollution and hazardous materials. A wrecker
62 operator may charge actual cost plus 10 percent for any cleanup
63 and disposal necessary after an accident or a fire or any
64 accidental discharge of any hazardous materials or debris
65 associated with an electric vehicle.
66 Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) and subsection
67 (6) of section 713.78, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
68 713.78 Liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles
69 and vessels.—
70 (4)
71 (b) Whenever a governmental entity law enforcement agency
72 authorizes the removal of a vehicle or vessel or whenever a
73 towing service, garage, repair shop, or automotive service,
74 storage, or parking place notifies the governmental entity law
75 enforcement agency of possession of a vehicle or vessel pursuant
76 to s. 715.07(2)(a)2., the governmental entity law enforcement
77 agency of the jurisdiction where the vehicle or vessel is stored
78 shall contact the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
79 Vehicles, or the appropriate agency of the state of
80 registration, if known, within 24 hours through the medium of
81 electronic communications, giving the full description of the
82 vehicle or vessel. Upon receipt of the full description of the
83 vehicle or vessel, the department shall search its files to
84 determine the owner’s name, the insurance company insuring the
85 vehicle or vessel, and whether any person has filed a lien upon
86 the vehicle or vessel as provided in s. 319.27(2) and (3) and
87 notify the applicable governmental entity law enforcement agency
88 within 72 hours. The person in charge of the towing service,
89 garage, repair shop, or automotive service, storage, or parking
90 place shall obtain such information from the applicable
91 governmental entity law enforcement agency within 5 days after
92 the date of storage and shall give notice pursuant to paragraph
93 (a). The department may release the insurance company
94 information to the requestor notwithstanding s. 627.736.
95 (6) A vehicle or vessel that is stored pursuant to
96 subsection (2) and remains unclaimed, or for which reasonable
97 charges for recovery, towing, or storing remain unpaid, and any
98 contents not released pursuant to subsection (10), may be sold
99 by the owner or operator of the storage space for such towing or
100 storage charge 35 days after the vehicle or vessel is stored by
101 the lienor if the vehicle or vessel is more than 3 years of age
102 or 50 days after the vehicle or vessel is stored by the lienor
103 if the vehicle or vessel is 3 years of age or less. The sale
104 must shall be at public sale for cash. If the date of the sale
105 was not included in the notice required in subsection (4),
106 notice of the sale must shall be given to the person in whose
107 name the vehicle or vessel is registered and to all persons
108 claiming a lien on the vehicle or vessel as shown on the records
109 of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or of any
110 corresponding agency in any other state in which the vehicle is
111 identified through a records check of the National Motor Vehicle
112 Title Information System or an equivalent commercially available
113 system as being titled. Notice of the sale must be sent by
114 certified mail. The notice must have clearly identified and
115 printed, if the claim of lien is for a motor vehicle, the last 8
116 digits of the vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle
117 subject to the lien, or, if the claim of lien is for a vessel,
118 the hull identification number of the vessel subject to the
119 lien, in the delivery address box and on the outside of the
120 envelope sent to the registered owner and all other persons
121 claiming an interest therein or lien thereon. The notice must be
122 sent to the owner of the vehicle or vessel and the person having
123 the recorded lien on the vehicle or vessel at the address shown
124 on the records of the registering agency at least 30 days before
125 the sale of the vehicle or vessel. The notice must state the
126 name, physical address, and telephone number of the lienor, and
127 the vehicle identification number if the claim of lien is for a
128 vehicle or the hull identification number if the claim of lien
129 is for a vessel, all of which must also appear in the return
130 address section on the outside of the envelope containing the
131 notice of sale. After diligent search and inquiry, if the name
132 and address of the registered owner or the owner of the recorded
133 lien cannot be ascertained, the requirements of notice by mail
134 may be dispensed with. In addition to the notice by mail, public
135 notice of the time and place of sale must shall be made by
136 publishing a notice thereof one time, at least 10 days before
137 the date of the sale, in a central database or online format
138 approved or operated by the Department of Highway Safety and
139 Motor Vehicles in a newspaper of general circulation in the
140 county in which the sale is to be held. The proceeds of the
141 sale, after payment of reasonable towing and storage charges,
142 and costs of the sale, in that order of priority, shall be
143 deposited with the clerk of the circuit court for the county if
144 the owner or lienholder is absent, and the clerk shall hold such
145 proceeds subject to the claim of the owner or lienholder legally
146 entitled thereto. The clerk is shall be entitled to receive 5
147 percent of such proceeds for the care and disbursement thereof.
148 The certificate of title issued under this law must shall be
149 discharged of all liens unless otherwise provided by court
150 order. The owner or lienholder may file a complaint after the
151 vehicle or vessel has been sold in the county court of the
152 county in which it is stored. Upon determining the respective
153 rights of the parties, the court may award damages, attorney
154 fees, and costs in favor of the prevailing party.
155 Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.
