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.