03/09/2021 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

           SB 76-ABANDONED VEHICLES; PRIVATE PROPERTY                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:02:17 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER announced  the consideration of SENATE  BILL NO. 76,                                                               
"An Act relating to vehicles abandoned on private property."                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
He listed the individuals available to answer questions.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:02:42 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR JESSE  KIEHL, Alaska  State Legislature,  Juneau, Alaska,                                                               
sponsor,  introduced SB  76  paraphrasing  the following  sponsor                                                               
statement:                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Vehicles   abandoned  on   private   property  are   an                                                                    
     expensive nuisance.   It happens all  around the state.                                                                    
     Under current  law, a person  can abandon a  vehicle on                                                                    
     someone else's  property for up  to six  months without                                                                    
     losing  title to  the vehicle.  That means  the private                                                                    
     property  owner must  either  live  with the  abandoned                                                                    
     vehicle on  their lot  or cover the  cost to  store the                                                                    
     vehicle elsewhere for the full six month period.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     SB 76  reduces the time  until the landowner  can start                                                                    
     the process to take title  to the abandoned vehicle and                                                                    
     deal  with it.   The  bill reduces  that wait  from six                                                                    
     months down  to 30  days.  The  process to  take title,                                                                    
     which includes  plenty of notice  to the  absent owner,                                                                    
     remains unchanged.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:05:37 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR REINBOLD thanked him for addressing this problem.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SHOWER  asked  what  happened   to  the  similar  bill  he                                                               
introduced during the last legislature.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KIEHL  replied the Senate  passed the bill but  the House                                                               
did  not take  it up  before the  legislature's speedy  departure                                                               
from the Capitol [due to COVID-19].                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SHOWER asked  if  his staff  would  present the  sectional                                                               
analysis.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  KIEHL replied  it is  a two-section  bill and  he didn't                                                               
imagine  a sectional  analysis was  necessary but  his staff  was                                                               
available to answer questions.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
4:06:53 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR HOLLAND asked if the  property owner is required to title                                                               
an abandoned  vehicle in  their name before  they can  dispose of                                                               
that vehicle.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KIEHL answered yes and an  analogy in the law is a towing                                                               
lien. A  tow truck owner who  removes a vehicle under  the towing                                                               
laws of the state has the  opportunity to recover their costs and                                                               
the value  of storage through a  towing lien. He noted  that that                                                               
lien is easier to get than the law SB 76 proposes to change.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CATHY  SCHLINGHEYDE, Staff,  Senator  Jesse  Kiehl, Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, Juneau,  Alaska, advised that Ms.  MacVay would like                                                               
to testify.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SHOWER turned to invited testimony.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:08:40 PM                                                                                                                    
LAUREN MACVAY,  True North Federal Credit  Union, Juneau, Alaska,                                                               
stated agreement  with the sponsor  that private  property owners                                                               
have a very  long wait to dispose of vehicles  abandoned on their                                                               
property. She  related her experience that  one abandoned vehicle                                                               
tends  to  attract  other  abandoned vehicles,  which  can  be  a                                                               
problem over time.  She said that from  a lienholders perspective                                                               
she  would  like  to  know   sooner  than  six  months  that  the                                                               
collateral  securing  a  loan  from the  Credit  Union  has  been                                                               
abandoned. "We  need time to  go through our  lienholder process,                                                               
but six months is way too long," she said.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SHOWER asked  if the  30-day notice  includes the  time to                                                               
mail the notice to the owner of the abandoned vehicle.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHLINGHEYDE answered  that after the initial  30-day wait, a                                                               
certified  letter could  be sent  to the  owner of  the abandoned                                                               
vehicle. Once  the property owner  receives the receipt,  the 30-                                                               
day notice period starts.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:11:23 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER held SB 76 in committee for future consideration.