Report Title:

Towing Fees; Increase; Recovery Charge

Description:

Increases fees for towing a vehicle; authorizes towing companies to charge an additional fee if a vehicle hookup takes longer than fifteen minutes; establishes procedures for towing company to notify the legal owner. (SD1)

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

681

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to towing.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to eliminate the variety of fees charged to different types of consumers when their vehicle is towed and to create one fee schedule for all towing companies to abide by regardless of who initiates the tow.

SECTION 2. Section 290-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Towing companies [engaged by the owner, occupant, or person in charge of the property] shall:

(1) Charge not more than [$55] $60 for a tow, or [$65] $70 for a tow using a dolly, plus a mileage charge of [$6.50] $7 per mile towed and [$15] $25 per day or fraction thereof for storage for the first seven days and [$10] $15 per day thereafter. When the tow occurs between the hours of six o'clock p.m. and six o'clock a.m., from Monday through Thursday and from Friday six o'clock p.m. to Monday six o'clock a.m., the towing company shall be entitled to an overtime charge of $15. If the vehicle is in the process of being hooked up to the tow truck and the owner appears on the scene before the vehicle has been moved by the tow truck, the towing company shall unhook the vehicle upon payment by the owner of an "unhooking" fee of not more than $50. If the owner is unwilling or unable to pay the "unhooking" fee, the vehicle may be towed. In the case of a difficult hookup, meaning an above or below ground hookup in a multilevel facility, a towing surcharge of $30 shall be applicable[;]. If it takes a towing company longer than fifteen minutes to hookup a vehicle, an additional "recovery charge" shall apply. The recovery charge shall be $25 for each fifteen-minute increment, or any fraction thereof, in excess of the first fifteen minutes that a towing company takes to hookup a vehicle. Travel time and time spent waiting at the tow site by the towing company shall not count toward the total time for purposes of determining any applicable recovery charge. The recovery charge shall not apply to a multilevel facility tow. The recovery charge shall be fair and reasonable and subject to review and approval by the registered owner of the vehicle or the driver's insurer. A towing company shall document the time it takes to hook a vehicle up for towing in order to be eligible for the recovery charge;

(2) Attempt, within twenty-four hours after a vehicle has been towed, to notify the legal and registered owner by telephone or facsimile of the tow, and to use all available means to ascertain the telephone number of the owner of the vehicle; provided that attempts to comply with this paragraph shall be documented; and provided further that if the owner is not notified or does not retrieve the vehicle within twenty-four hours, paragraph (3) shall apply;

[(2)] (3) Determine the name of the legal owner and the registered owner of the vehicle from the department of transportation or the county department of finance. The legal owner and the registered owner shall be notified in writing at the address on record with the department of transportation or with the county department of finance by registered or certified mail of the location of the vehicle, together with a description of the vehicle, within a reasonable period not to exceed twenty days following the tow. The notice shall state:

(A) The maximum towing charges and fees allowed by law;

(B) The telephone number of the consumer information service of the department of commerce and consumer affairs; and

(C) That if the vehicle is not recovered within thirty days after the mailing of the notice, the vehicle shall be deemed abandoned and will be sold or disposed of as junk.

Where the owners have not been so notified, then the owner may recover the owner's car from the towing company without paying tow or storage fees; provided that the notice need not be sent to a legal or registered owner or any person with an unrecorded interest in the vehicle whose name or address cannot be determined. Absent evidence to the contrary, a notice shall be deemed received by the legal or registered owner five days after the mailing. A person, including but not limited to the owner's or driver's insurer, who has been charged in excess of the charges permitted under this section may sue for damages sustained and, if the judgment is for the plaintiff, the court shall award the plaintiff a sum not to exceed the amount of the damages and reasonable attorney's fees together with the cost of suit;

[(3)] (4) Provide, when a vehicle is recovered by the owner before written notice is sent by registered or certified mail, the owner with a receipt stating:

(A) The maximum towing charges and fees allowed by law; and

(B) The telephone number of the consumer information service of the department of commerce and consumer affairs; and

[(4)] (5) Accommodate payment by the owner for charges

under paragraph (1) by cash and by either credit card

or automated teller machine located on the premises."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.