Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2809, as amended, relates to liens on abandoned motor vehicles and real property.

Motor Vehicles. The bill changes contain various requirements pertaining to liens on, or sales to satisfy a lien on, an abandoned vehicle by:

• Increasing from $500 to $1,000 the value of a vehicle which may be sold at any time to satisfy a lien after notice to the owner;



• Increasing from $500 to $1,000 the value of a vehicle for which a request for owner verification must be submitted within 60 days;



• Reducing the number of times public notice must be published from three to one time;



• Repealing the statute that requires excess proceeds from the sale of a vehicle to be deposited with the county treasurer; and



• Eliminating lien invalidation for failure to give any notice required under the act and adding a provision that any storage charge shall cease until notice requirements are complied with.

Liens on Real Property. HB 2809 would also increase the time for filing liens on commercial real property within 180 days after the date used construction material was last furnished or the last labor performed under contract. The time for filing liens on residential property has not changed.

Background

HB 2809, as introduced, was requested for introduction by the Kansas Motor Carriers Association on behalf of its Towing and Recovery Division members. The Director of Governmental Relations and Membership Services testified that the bill proposes to reduce the paperwork burden placed on towing companies that dispose of abandoned vehicles. Towing companies are called by law enforcement to pick up these vehicles, store them, and invoke the Towing and Recovery Lien law to recover whatever compensation they can.

There were no other conferees.

The House Committee of the Whole added the provisions of HB 2594. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. HB 2594 was recommended by the 1999 Special Committee on Judiciary in the Committee Reports to the 2000 Kansas Legislature.

The Office of Judicial Administration and the Department of Revenue indicate that there would be no fiscal effect from the passage of HB 2809. The Office of Judicial Administration also indicated that passage of HB 2594 could result in an increase in lien filings. However, the impact to the agency cannot be determined without experience.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html