2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 42 - Vehicles and Traffic
Regulation of Vehicles and Traffic
Article 4 - Regulation of Vehicles and Traffic
Part 21 - Vehicles Abandoned on Private Property
§ 42-4-2103. Abandonment of motor vehicles - private property - rules

(1) (a) Motor vehicles abandoned at repair shops shall be removed as set forth in section 38-20-116 (2.5), C.R.S.

(b) No person shall abandon any motor vehicle upon private property other than his or her own. Any owner or lessee, or the owner's or lessee's agent authorized in writing, may have an abandoned motor vehicle removed from his or her property by having it towed and impounded by an operator. Motor vehicles abandoned upon the property of a motor vehicle recycler may be recycled in accordance with part 22 of this article if the vehicle's appraisal value is less than three hundred fifty dollars.

(2) Any operator having in his or her possession any motor vehicle that was abandoned on private property shall notify, within thirty minutes, the department, the sheriff, or the sheriff's designee, of the county in which the motor vehicle is located or the chief of police, or the chief's designee, of the municipality in which the motor vehicle is located as to the name of the operator and the location of the impound lot where the vehicle is located and a description of the abandoned motor vehicle, including the make, model, color, and year, the number, issuing state, and expiration date of the license plate, and the vehicle identification number. Upon such notification, the law enforcement agency that receives such notice shall assign the vehicle a tow report number immediately, shall enter the vehicle and the fact that it has been towed in the Colorado crime information center computer system, and shall ascertain, if possible, whether or not the vehicle has been reported stolen and, if so reported, such agency shall recover and secure the motor vehicle and notify its rightful owner and terminate the abandonment proceedings under this part 21. Upon the release of the vehicle to the owner or lienholder, the operator shall notify the responsible law enforcement agent who shall adjust or delete the entry in the Colorado crime information center computer system. The responsible law enforcement agency and operator shall have the right to recover from the owner their reasonable fees for recovering and securing the vehicle. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize fees for services that were not provided or that were provided by another person or entity.

(3) (a) An operator shall, no less than two days, but no more than ten days after a motor vehicle has been towed or abandoned, report such motor vehicle tow to the department by first-class or certified mail, by personal delivery, or by internet communication, which report shall be on a form prescribed and supplied by the department.

(b) The report shall contain the following information:

(I) The fact of possession, including the date possession was taken, the location of storage of the abandoned motor vehicle and the location from which it was towed, the tow report number, and the identity of the law enforcement agency determining that the vehicle was not reported stolen;

(II) The identity of the operator possessing the abandoned motor vehicle, together with the operator's business address and telephone number and the carrier number assigned by the public utilities commission; and

(III) A description of the abandoned motor vehicle, including the make, model, color, and year, the number, issuing state, and expiration date of the license plate, or any other indicia of the motor vehicle's state of origin, and the vehicle identification number.

(c) (I) (A) An operator or its agent shall, no less than two days, but no more than ten days after a motor vehicle has been towed or abandoned, determine who the owner is and if there is a lienholder and send a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the owner and any lienholder as determined from records of the department or from the national search performed by the department.

(B) If the department conducts a national title search in accordance with subparagraph (IV) of this paragraph (c), each day elapsing between the department being notified and the department returning information on the motor vehicle as a result of the search does not count against the tow operator's ten-day deadline to contact the motor vehicle's owner or any lienholder. This sub-subparagraph (B) does not affect daily storage fees.

(C) The notice must include the information required by the report set forth in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3).

(D) The cost of complying with this paragraph (c) is a cost of towing; except that the total of all costs of complying with this section shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars. The tow operator shall send the notice to the owner and lienholder within five days after receiving the information from the department.

(II) The operator shall not be entitled to recover any daily storage fees from the day the vehicle is towed until the day the owner and lienholder are notified, unless the operator reasonably attempts to notify the owner and lienholder by the date specified in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (c). Sending a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner and the lienholder as represented in department records shall be deemed a reasonable attempt to notify the owner and the lienholder. Failure to notify the owner and the lienholder due to the receipt of erroneous information from the department shall not cause the loss of such storage fees accrued from the date the vehicle is towed until the owner and the lienholder receive such notice.

(III) The department shall implement an electronic system whereby an operator registered under section 42-4-1806 (2) or the agent of such operator shall have access to correct information relating to any owner and lienholder of a vehicle towed by the operator as represented in the department records. The department shall ensure that the information available to an operator or its agent is correct and is limited solely to that information necessary to contact the owner and lienholder of such vehicle.

(IV) If the tow operator determines in accordance with this subsection (3) that the department does not have a current record for a motor vehicle, the tow operator shall notify the department in writing, including electronically. Upon receiving the notice, the department shall conduct a title search with an entity that:

(A) Has a national database;

(B) May retrieve records based on both the vehicle identification number and vehicle registration number on the license plate; and

(C) Provides the following information: The vehicle identification number, the vehicle registration number, the owner's name and contact information, and the lienholder's name and contact information.

(V) Within ten working days after receiving the written notice that no record exists under subparagraph (IV) of this paragraph (c), the department shall complete its search and shall transmit all relevant information to the responsible law enforcement agency or tow operator. This ten-day period does not decrease the number of days a tow operator has to notify the owner or lienholder in accordance with this paragraph (c).

(VI) The department may charge the tow operator a fee in an amount not to exceed the lesser of five dollars or the direct and indirect costs of implementing this paragraph (c).

(4) Within ten days after the receipt of the report set forth in paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section from the department, the operator shall notify by certified mail the owner of record including an out-of-state owner of record. The operator shall make a reasonable effort to ascertain the address of the owner of record. Such notice shall contain the following information:

(a) That the identified motor vehicle has been reported abandoned to the department;

(b) The claim of any lien under section 42-4-2105;

(c) The location of the motor vehicle and the location from which it was towed; and

(d) That, unless claimed within thirty calendar days after the date the notice was sent, as determined from the postmark on the notice, the motor vehicle is subject to sale.

(5) The department shall maintain department-approved notice forms satisfying the requirements of subsection (4) of this section and shall make them available for use by operators and local law enforcement agencies.