2006 Code of Virginia § 46.2-1202 - Notice to owner of vehicle taken into custody

46.2-1202. Notice to owner of vehicle taken into custody.

Any locality or its authorized agent that takes an abandoned motor vehicleinto custody shall, within fifteen days, by registered or certified mail,return receipt requested, notify the owner of record of the motor vehicle andall persons having security interests in the vehicle of record, that it hasbeen taken into custody. The notice shall (i) state the year, make, model,and serial number of the abandoned motor vehicle; (ii) set forth the locationof the facility where it is being held; and (iii) inform the owner and anypersons having security interests of their right to reclaim it within fifteendays after the date of the notice after payment of all towing, preservation,and storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody. The noticeshall state that the failure of the owner or persons having securityinterests to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided shall constitute(i) a waiver by the owner and all persons having any security interests ofall right, title, and interest in the vehicle and (ii) consent to the sale ofthe abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction.

If records of the Department contain no address for the owner or no addressof any person shown by the Department's records to have a security interest,or if the identity and addresses of the owner and all persons having securityinterests cannot be determined with reasonable certainty, notice bypublication once in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where themotor vehicle was abandoned shall be sufficient to meet all requirements ofnotice pursuant to this article as to any person who cannot be notifiedpursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section. Notice by publicationmay contain multiple listings of abandoned motor vehicles. Any notice of thiskind shall be within the time requirements prescribed by this section fornotice by mail and shall have the same contents required for a notice by mail.

The consequences of failure to reclaim an abandoned motor vehicle shall be asset forth in a notice given in accordance with and pursuant to this section.

(1968, c. 421, 46.1-555.4; 1989, c. 727; 1997, c. 150.)