89R10903 AND-F
By: Hinojosa of Hidalgo S.B. No. 2668
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to regulation of vehicle storage facilities and the
approval and regulation by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
of Internet websites for the public sale of certain abandoned
vehicles by vehicle storage facility operators.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2303.151, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) Proof of delivery of notice provided under this section
must be evidenced by:
(1) a United States Postal Service electronic
certified mail receipt, United States Postal Service dated domestic
return receipt, or United States Postal Service firm mailing book
for accountable mail; and
(2) if applicable, any unopened certified letter
returned as:
(A) undeliverable;
(B) unclaimed;
(C) refused; or
(D) without a forwarding address.
SECTION 2. Section 2303.154(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a vehicle is not claimed by a person permitted to
claim the vehicle before the 10th day after the date notice is
mailed or published under Section 2303.151 or 2303.152, the
operator of the vehicle storage facility shall consider the vehicle
to be abandoned and[, if required by the law enforcement agency with
jurisdiction where the vehicle is located,] report the abandonment
to the appropriate law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. If
the law enforcement agency notifies the vehicle storage facility
that the agency will send notices and dispose of the abandoned
vehicle under Subchapter B, Chapter 683, Transportation Code, the
vehicle storage facility shall pay the fee required under Section
683.031, Transportation Code.
SECTION 3. Section 2303.157(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) An operator entitled to dispose of a vehicle under this
section shall [may] sell the vehicle at a public sale through an
Internet website approved by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
under Section 2303.1575. The operator is not required to obtain
[without obtaining] a release or discharge of any lien on the
vehicle, regardless of whether notice was provided by mail or by
publication under this chapter. The proceeds from the sale of the
vehicle shall be applied to the charges incurred for the vehicle
under Section 2303.155. The operator shall pay any excess proceeds
to the person entitled to those proceeds.
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 2303, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 2303.1575 to read as follows:
Sec. 2303.1575. INTERNET WEBSITE FOR PUBLIC SALE OF
ABANDONED VEHICLE; REQUIREMENTS FOR SALE. (a) The Texas
Department of Motor Vehicles shall approve one or more persons to
operate an Internet website to conduct the public sale of abandoned
vehicles under Section 2303.157.
(b) The board of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
shall adopt rules to implement this section, including rules:
(1) prescribing the manner and form of an application
for approval under Subsection (a);
(2) establishing eligibility requirements for
approval under Subsection (a);
(3) regulating the operation of an Internet website
approved under Subsection (a); and
(4) authorizing the revocation of a person's approval
under Subsection (a) as necessary to enforce a violation of this
section or a rule adopted under this section.
(c) A vehicle storage facility operator entitled to dispose
of a vehicle under Section 2303.157 shall submit the vehicle for
sale to an Internet website approved by the Texas Department of
Motor Vehicles under Subsection (a) in accordance with this section
and rules adopted under Subsection (b). The vehicle storage
facility operator shall provide to the Internet website photographs
with a full view of the vehicle's front, rear, driver's side, and
passenger's side.
(d) A vehicle storage facility operator may not submit a
vehicle for sale under Subsection (c) that is a salvage motor
vehicle because of damage caused exclusively by flooding unless the
facility has disclosed the damage to the Internet website and the
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the vehicle title bears any
notation required by Section 501.09112(d), Transportation Code. A
vehicle storage facility operator who submits a vehicle for sale
under Subsection (c) in violation of this subsection is liable to
the purchaser of the vehicle for three times the cost to repair the
undisclosed damage and any attorney's fees.
(e) A finding that a vehicle storage facility operator has
violated Subsection (d) more than once is grounds for the
commission to revoke the operator's license as provided by Section
51.353.
SECTION 5. Section 152.002(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) "Total consideration" does not include:
(1) a cash discount;
(2) a full cash or credit refund to a customer of the
sales price of a motor vehicle returned to the seller;
(3) the amount charged for labor or service rendered
in installing, applying, remodeling, or repairing the motor vehicle
sold;
(4) a financing, carrying, or service charge or
interest on credit extended on a motor vehicle sold under a
conditional sale or other deferred payment contract;
(5) the value of a motor vehicle taken by a seller as
all or a part of the consideration for sale of another motor
vehicle, including any cash payment to the buyer under Section
348.404 or 353.402, Finance Code;
(6) a charge for transportation of the motor vehicle
after a sale;
(7) motor vehicle inventory tax; [or]
(8) an amount made available to the customer under
Subchapter G, Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code; or
(9) storage fees for a motor vehicle sold under
Section 2303.157, Occupations Code, or Subchapter B, Chapter 683,
Transportation Code.
SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Occupations Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 2303.151(g); and
(2) Section 2303.154(f).
SECTION 7. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the board of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
shall adopt the rules required under Section 2303.1575, Occupations
Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
2303, Occupations Code, apply only to a vehicle received in storage
on or after the effective date of this Act. A vehicle received in
storage before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the vehicle was received in storage, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. The change in law made by this Act to Section
152.002(b), Tax Code, does not affect tax liability accruing before
the effective date of this Act. That liability continues in effect
as if this Act had not been enacted, and the former law is continued
in effect for the collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal
enforcement of the liability for those taxes.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.