By: Carona S.B. No. 543
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain possessory liens.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 70.003, Property Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) A garageman with whom a motor vehicle, motorboat,
vessel, or outboard motor is left for care has a lien on the motor
vehicle, motorboat, vessel, or outboard motor for the amount of the
charges for the care, including reasonable charges for towing the
motor vehicle, motorboat, vessel, or outboard motor to the
garageman's place of business and excluding charges for repairs.
SECTION 2. Section 70.006, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 70.0061, a [A] holder of a
lien under this subchapter or Chapter 59 on a motor vehicle subject
to Chapter 501, Transportation Code, or on a motorboat, vessel, or
outboard motor for which a certificate of title is required under
Subchapter B, Chapter 31, Parks and Wildlife Code, as amended, who
retains possession of the motor vehicle, motorboat, vessel, or
outboard motor for 30 days after the day that the charges accrue
shall give written notice to the owner and each holder of a lien
recorded on the certificate of title. Except as provided by Section
70.0061, if [If] the motor vehicle, motorboat, vessel, or outboard
motor is registered outside this state, the holder of a lien under
this subchapter who retains possession during that period shall
give notice to the last known registered owner and each lienholder
of record.
(b-1) A holder of a possessory lien under Section 70.001 who
is required to give notice to the owner or a lienholder of record
under this section must include in the notice a signed copy of the
work order authorizing the repairs on the motor vehicle, motorboat,
vessel, or outboard motor.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 70, Property Code, is
amended by adding Sections 70.0061 and 70.0062 to read as follows:
Sec. 70.0061. SALE OF MOTOR VEHICLE BY CERTAIN LIENHOLDERS.
(a) In this section, "franchised dealer" has the meaning assigned
by Section 2301.002, Occupations Code.
(b) A person, other than a franchised dealer, who holds a
worker's lien under Section 70.001 on a motor vehicle subject to
Chapter 501, Transportation Code, who retains possession of the
motor vehicle for 20 days after the day that the charges accrue
shall:
(1) give written notice of the worker's lien,
including the amount of the charges and a signed copy of the work
order authorizing the repairs on the motor vehicle, to the county
assessor-collector of the county in which the motor vehicle is
located; and
(2) pay to the county assessor-collector a fee of $50
for the administrative costs incurred by the county
assessor-collector under this section.
(c) Not later than the 20th day after the date on which the
county assessor-collector receives notice of a worker's lien under
this section, the county assessor-collector shall notify the owner
of the motor vehicle, each holder of a lien recorded on the
certificate of title of the motor vehicle, and the person who claims
the worker's lien of the worker's lien claimed on the motor vehicle
and the amount of the charges. A notice provided by a county
assessor-collector under this subsection must:
(1) include a copy of the signed copy of the work order
provided by the lien claimant under Subsection (b)(1) in the notice
to the motor vehicle's owner and each lienholder of record; and
(2) be sent by certified mail, return receipt
requested.
(d) If the county assessor-collector is unable to locate the
last known registered owner or any lienholder of record, the notice
required by Subsection (c) may be given by publishing the notice
once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which
the motor vehicle is located.
(e) A county assessor-collector is not required to publish
notice under Subsection (d) if a correctly addressed notice is sent
under Subsection (c) with sufficient postage and is returned as
unclaimed or refused or with a notation that the addressee is
unknown or has moved without leaving a forwarding address.
(f) After notice is given to an owner or lienholder of
record under this section, the owner or lienholder may obtain
possession of the motor vehicle by paying all charges due to the
person claiming the worker's lien under Section 70.001 before the
21st day after the date the notice is mailed or published by the
county assessor-collector as provided by this section.
(g) If the charges are not paid before the 21st day after the
date the notice is mailed or published by the county
assessor-collector and an objection to the worker's lien has not
been filed during that period under Section 70.0062, the person
claiming the worker's lien under Section 70.001 may sell the motor
vehicle in the manner provided by Section 70.006.
(h) If an objection to the worker's lien has been filed
under Section 70.0062, the person claiming the worker's lien under
Section 70.001 may sell the motor vehicle in the manner provided by
Section 70.006, only on or after:
(1) the 21st day after the date the objection was
filed, if no court case has been filed by any interested party
regarding the validity of the worker's lien; or
(2) the date a judgment is issued in which the worker's
lien claimed is found to be valid.
Sec. 70.0062. OBJECTION TO WORKER'S LIEN ON MOTOR VEHICLE.
(a) An owner or holder of a lien recorded on the certificate of
title of a motor vehicle who is notified under Section 70.0061 of a
worker's lien claimed on the motor vehicle may file an objection
with the county assessor-collector in the county in which the motor
vehicle is located asserting that the worker's lien claimed is
invalid. The objection must be filed in writing not later than the
20th day after the date the notice is provided and must state the
reason the owner or lienholder believes the worker's lien is
invalid.
(b) The county assessor-collector may charge a reasonable
fee, not to exceed $25, for the administrative costs of processing
the objection.
(c) On receipt of an objection from an owner or lienholder
under this section, the county assessor-collector shall notify the
Texas Department of Transportation of the objection, and the Texas
Department of Transportation shall place a hold on the motor
vehicle record relating to the certificate of title for the motor
vehicle on which the worker's lien is held.
(d) The Texas Department of Transportation shall continue a
hold under this section until the 20th day after the date on which
the county assessor-collector received the objection, unless an
owner or lienholder of record provides written notice to the county
assessor-collector and the department, before that date, of a
pending case regarding the validity of the worker's lien claimed
under Section 70.001, including the name of the court and the docket
number of the case. If the department receives notice of a pending
case under this section, the department may not release the hold on
the motor vehicle record relating to the certificate of title until
the date on which the owner, lienholder of record, or person
claiming a worker's lien under Section 70.001 provides a copy of a
judgment issued in the case to the department.
(e) The Texas Transportation Commission shall adopt rules
necessary to carry out the Texas Department of Transportation's
duties under this section.
SECTION 4. Section 501.074, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
follows:
(c) If a constitutional or statutory lien is foreclosed, the
department may issue a new certificate of title in the name of the
purchaser at the foreclosure sale on receiving:
(1) the affidavit of the lienholder of the fact of the
creation of the lien and of the divestiture of title according to
law; and
(2) proof of notice as required by Sections 70.004,
[and] 70.006, and 70.0061, Property Code.
(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), if Sections 70.0061
and 70.0062, Property Code, apply to the lien, the department may
not issue a new certificate of title unless:
(1) the time for filing an objection under Section
70.0062 has expired and an objection is not filed; or
(2) if an objection is filed, the time for a hold on
the title under Section 70.0062 has expired in accordance with that
section.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a possessory lien on a motor vehicle, motorboat, vessel, or
outboard motor the possession of which is obtained on or after the
effective date of this Act. A possessory lien on a motor vehicle,
motorboat, vessel, or outboard motor the possession of which was
obtained before that date is governed by the law in effect at the
time possession was obtained, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.