Florida Senate - 2024 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 332
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
01/24/2024 .
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The Committee on Transportation (Burgess) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
6 section 125.0103, Florida Statutes, to read:
7 125.0103 Ordinances and rules imposing price controls.—
8 (1)
9 (d) Counties must establish maximum rates that may be
10 charged by a wrecker operator for the storage of electric
11 vehicles or alternative fuel motor vehicles in the operator’s
12 storage facilities. Such rates may exceed the rate that is
13 charged for the cost of storing vehicles that run solely on
14 gasoline or diesel fuels.
15 Section 2. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
16 section 166.043, Florida Statutes, to read:
17 166.043 Ordinances and rules imposing price controls.—
18 (1)
19 (d) Municipalities must establish maximum rates that may be
20 charged by a wrecker operator for the storage of electric
21 vehicles or alternative fuel motor vehicles in the operator’s
22 storage facilities. Such rates may exceed the rate that is
23 charged for the cost of storing vehicles that run solely on
24 gasoline or diesel fuels.
25 Section 3. Subsection (7) of section 323.001, Florida
26 Statutes, is amended to read:
27 323.001 Wrecker operator storage facilities; vehicle
28 holds.—
29 (7) When a vehicle owner is found guilty of, or pleads nolo
30 contendere to, the offense that resulted in a hold being placed
31 on his or her vehicle, regardless of the adjudication of guilt,
32 the owner must pay the accrued towing and storage charges
33 assessed against the vehicle. If a vehicle is stored at a
34 wrecker operator’s storage facility for more than 30 days, the
35 person, entity, office, or agency that orders the vehicle to be
36 stored for evidentiary purposes at the wrecker operator’s
37 storage facility must take possession of the vehicle within 30
38 days after the first day of storage.
39 Section 4. Section 323.003, Florida Statutes, is created to
40 read:
41 323.003 Wrecker operator fees.—A wrecker operator may
42 charge actual cost plus 10 percent for the cleanup, containment,
43 and disposal of pollution and hazardous materials. A wrecker
44 operator may charge actual cost plus 10 percent for any cleanup
45 and disposal necessary after an accident or a fire or any
46 accidental discharge of any hazardous materials or debris
47 associated with an electric vehicle.
48 Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) and subsection
49 (6) of section 713.78, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
50 713.78 Liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles
51 and vessels.—
52 (4)
53 (b) Whenever a governmental entity law enforcement agency
54 authorizes the removal of a vehicle or vessel or whenever a
55 towing service, garage, repair shop, or automotive service,
56 storage, or parking place notifies the governmental entity law
57 enforcement agency of possession of a vehicle or vessel pursuant
58 to s. 715.07(2)(a)2., the governmental entity law enforcement
59 agency of the jurisdiction where the vehicle or vessel is stored
60 shall contact the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
61 Vehicles, or the appropriate agency of the state of
62 registration, if known, within 24 hours through the medium of
63 electronic communications, giving the full description of the
64 vehicle or vessel. Upon receipt of the full description of the
65 vehicle or vessel, the department shall search its files to
66 determine the owner’s name, the insurance company insuring the
67 vehicle or vessel, and whether any person has filed a lien upon
68 the vehicle or vessel as provided in s. 319.27(2) and (3) and
69 notify the applicable governmental entity law enforcement agency
70 within 72 hours. The person in charge of the towing service,
71 garage, repair shop, or automotive service, storage, or parking
72 place shall obtain such information from the applicable
73 governmental entity law enforcement agency within 5 days after
74 the date of storage and shall give notice pursuant to paragraph
75 (a). The department may release the insurance company
76 information to the requestor notwithstanding s. 627.736.
77 (6) A vehicle or vessel that is stored pursuant to
78 subsection (2) and remains unclaimed, or for which reasonable
79 charges for recovery, towing, or storing remain unpaid, and any
80 contents not released pursuant to subsection (10), may be sold
81 by the owner or operator of the storage space for such towing or
82 storage charge 35 days after the vehicle or vessel is stored by
83 the lienor if the vehicle or vessel is more than 3 years of age
84 or 50 days after the vehicle or vessel is stored by the lienor
85 if the vehicle or vessel is 3 years of age or less. The sale
86 must shall be at public sale for cash. If the date of the sale
87 was not included in the notice required in subsection (4),
88 notice of the sale must shall be given to the person in whose
89 name the vehicle or vessel is registered and to all persons
90 claiming a lien on the vehicle or vessel as shown on the records
91 of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or of any
92 corresponding agency in any other state in which the vehicle is
93 identified through a records check of the National Motor Vehicle
94 Title Information System or an equivalent commercially available
95 system as being titled. Notice of the sale must be sent by
96 certified mail. The notice must have clearly identified and
97 printed, if the claim of lien is for a motor vehicle, the last 8
98 digits of the vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle
99 subject to the lien, or, if the claim of lien is for a vessel,
100 the hull identification number of the vessel subject to the
101 lien, in the delivery address box and on the outside of the
102 envelope sent to the registered owner and all other persons
103 claiming an interest therein or lien thereon. The notice must be
104 sent to the owner of the vehicle or vessel and the person having
105 the recorded lien on the vehicle or vessel at the address shown
106 on the records of the registering agency at least 30 days before
107 the sale of the vehicle or vessel. The notice must state the
108 name, physical address, and telephone number of the lienor, and
109 the vehicle identification number if the claim of lien is for a
110 vehicle or the hull identification number if the claim of lien
111 is for a vessel, all of which must also appear in the return
112 address section on the outside of the envelope containing the
113 notice of sale. After diligent search and inquiry, if the name
114 and address of the registered owner or the owner of the recorded
115 lien cannot be ascertained, the requirements of notice by mail
116 may be dispensed with. In addition to the notice by mail, public
117 notice of the time and place of sale must shall be made by
118 publishing a notice thereof one time, at least 10 days before
119 the date of the sale, in a central database or online format
120 approved or operated by the Department of Highway Safety and
121 Motor Vehicles in a newspaper of general circulation in the
122 county in which the sale is to be held. The proceeds of the
123 sale, after payment of reasonable towing and storage charges,
124 and costs of the sale, in that order of priority, shall be
125 deposited with the clerk of the circuit court for the county if
126 the owner or lienholder is absent, and the clerk shall hold such
127 proceeds subject to the claim of the owner or lienholder legally
128 entitled thereto. The clerk is shall be entitled to receive 5
129 percent of such proceeds for the care and disbursement thereof.
130 The certificate of title issued under this law must shall be
131 discharged of all liens unless otherwise provided by court
132 order. The owner or lienholder may file a complaint after the
133 vehicle or vessel has been sold in the county court of the
134 county in which it is stored. Upon determining the respective
135 rights of the parties, the court may award damages, attorney
136 fees, and costs in favor of the prevailing party.
137 Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.
138
139 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
140 And the title is amended as follows:
141 Delete everything before the enacting clause
142 and insert:
143 A bill to be entitled
144 An act relating to wrecker operators; amending ss.
145 125.0103 and 166.043, F.S.; requiring counties and
146 municipalities, respectively, to establish maximum
147 rates for the storage of electric vehicles or
148 alternative fuel motor vehicles in a wrecker
149 operator’s storage facilities; authorizing such
150 maximum rates to exceed a specified rate; amending s.
151 323.001, F.S.; requiring a person, an entity, an
152 office, or an agency that orders a vehicle to be
153 stored at a wrecker operator’s facility to take
154 possession of the vehicle within a specified
155 timeframe; creating s. 323.003, F.S.; authorizing a
156 wrecker operator to charge certain fees under certain
157 circumstances; amending s. 713.78, F.S.; replacing the
158 term “law enforcement agency” with “governmental
159 entity”; revising the notice requirements for certain
160 unclaimed vehicles; making technical changes;
161 providing an effective date.