| Summary |
The bill amends the statutes requiring a permit to boot a vehicle to
broaden the permit requirement to include any application, without the
appropriate consent, of a device intended to prevent the normal operation
of a motor vehicle.
Under current law, a permit holder may be denied a permit to boot
a vehicle upon application when the permit holder or owner has been
convicted of a felony within the last 5 years. The bill allows the public
utilities commission (commission) to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew
a permit to immobilize a vehicle for felonies and immobilization-related
offenses. An applicant must disclose each person that is a principal owner
in the vehicle immobilization company (company) in an application.
The commission is authorized to deny an application for or
suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a permit of a company based on a
determination that it is not in the public interest for the company to
possess a permit. The determination is subject to appeal. Possession of a
permit is rebuttably presumed to be not in the public interest if a company
has willfully and repeatedly failed to comply with the relevant law.
The bill adds the following new duties for companies:
•
Before immobilizing a vehicle, the company must
document the vehicle's condition and the reason for the
immobilization. Standards are set for the documentation,
including taking photographs.
•
Upon demand by an authorized or interested person, the
company must provide copies of the photographs, and if
the company does not provide the photographs and a
vehicle is damaged, it creates a rebuttable presumption that
the company damaged the vehicle or did not have authority
to immobilize the vehicle;
•
When an immobilization device is being removed from a
vehicle, a company must provide adequate lighting to
inspect the vehicle for damage;
•
A company shall display its name, the permit number, and
a phone number of the company on each company vehicle
used in immobilization. Standards are set for the display.
•
The representative of a company must have business
identification visibly worn at all times while immobilizing
a vehicle or accepting payment;
•
If a vehicle has been immobilized by a company, another
company must not immobilize the vehicle;
•
If a company applies more than one immobilization device
to a vehicle, the company may not charge more than once
for the removal of all the immobilization devices;
•
A company must provide, upon request, evidence of the
company's commercial liability insurance coverage;
•
A company must immediately accept payment and release
the vehicle if offered in cash or by valid major credit card;
•
Upon request, a company must disclose accepted forms of
payment;
•
A company must provide an itemized bill showing each
charge and the rate for each fee incurred as a result of an
immobilization and any fee that caused the immobilization;
and
•
A company may not pay money or provide other valuable
consideration for the privilege of immobilizing vehicles.
A company is prohibited from immobilizing a vehicle on private
property unless:
•
The immobilization is ordered or authorized by a court
order, an administrative order, or a peace officer or by
operation of law; or
•
The company has received permission for each individual
immobilization, within the 24 hours immediately preceding
the immobilization, from a specified person. The company
must retain the permission for 3 years.
A property owner with tenants must give each tenant adequate
notice of parking regulations as outlined in the bill. A company may not
immobilize a vehicle in a parking space or common parking area without
the company or property owner giving 24 hours' written notice at least 24
hours before immobilizing the vehicle, unless the vehicle owner or
operator has received 2 or more previous notices for parking
inappropriately in the same manner. Standards are set for the notice.
If a vehicle parks 3 or more times in the same inappropriate
manner, the company or property owner need not give the notice, but the
company must place a notice on the immobilized vehicle that contains the
phone number of the company, the normal operating hours of the
company, and the phone number to contact the company outside of
normal operating hours.
To immobilize a vehicle on private property normally used for
parking, the following must be provided upon entering the private
property:
•
Notice of the parking regulations; and
•
Notice that a violation of the regulations subjects the
vehicle to immobilization at the vehicle owner's expense.
Unless the immobilization is based on an order given by a peace officer,
a company may not immobilize a vehicle on private property because the
vehicle's registration has expired.
For a company to immobilize a vehicle, the property owner must
have posted signage that meets the size, visibility, and placement
standards of the bill and contains the following information:
•
The restriction or prohibition on parking;
•
The times of the day and days that the restriction is
applicable, but, if the restriction applies 24 hours per day,
7 days per week, the sign must say Authorized Parking
Only;
•
Notice that violating the regulation subjects the violating
vehicle to be immobilized at the vehicle owner's expense;
and
•
The name and telephone number of the company
authorized to perform immobilization on the private
property.
A company may not patrol or monitor property to enforce parking
restrictions on behalf of a property owner.
If a company has immobilized a vehicle on private property, the
company must give a written notice of the person's ability to make a
complaint to the commission in accordance with the standards of the bill.
A company must release a motor vehicle either within 120 minutes
after being contacted outside the company's normal business hours or
within 90 minutes during the company's normal business hours. A
company must immediately release a vehicle without charge to a towing
carrier when evidence is presented that the towing carrier has
authorization to conduct a nonconsensual tow or
law-enforcement-directed tow. A company must immediately release an
immobilized vehicle if the person retrieving the vehicle pays at least 15%
of the fees, not to exceed $60, and the person signs a form affirming that
the authorized or interested person owes the company payment for the
appropriate fees.
A company must charge a reduced release charge set by the
commission and immediately release the vehicle if the vehicle is released
after an employee of or agent of the company starts to immobilize the
vehicle but before the agent or employee leaves the private property.
A company must retain evidence of giving the notices and
disclosures required in the bill for 3 years and provide the evidence to the
commission or an enforcement official upon request.
Generally, the bill does not apply to an immobilization ordered by
a peace officer or technician directed by a peace officer, an
immobilization in a parking space that serves a business if the parking
space is on commercial real estate, or an immobilization ordered by a
municipality, county, or city and county.
A violation of the bill is generally a deceptive trade practice and
is subject to enforcement by the attorney general's office or a district
attorney.
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