Vehicles: homelessness

The law creates a process for removing vehicle hazards that cannot be towed while requiring notice, time to respond, and an opportunity to challenge the action.

What the law does ​

• Allows cities and counties to dismantle on site an abandoned vehicle that cannot be moved and has been declared a nuisance or hazard by a local fire marshal, environmental health director, or public health officer.
• Requires a posted notice at least 15 days before dismantlement, notice to the Department of Justice's Stolen Vehicle System, and mailed notice to owners and known interested parties within 48 hours.
• Gives owners and interested parties 10 days to request a hearing, requires the hearing within five business days, and bars disposal during a requested hearing or judicial review.
• Requires authorization for a lienholder to dismantle an unclaimed vehicle after the notice period if no hearing is requested or attended.
• Bars reconstruction or reuse of a dismantled vehicle, except qualifying historic or horseless-carriage vehicles.
• Preserves local authority to immediately abate an abandoned vehicle posing an imminent health or safety hazard.

Who it affects ​

• Owners, lienholders, and other interested parties in abandoned vehicles subject to dismantlement.
• City, county, and city-and-county public agencies, including authorized peace officers and employees.
• People using vehicles for habitation, whose vehicle cannot be treated as abandoned under this law when it shows signs of habitation or outreach indicates it is being used as housing.

Context ​

An inoperable vehicle missing its motor, transmission, or wheels may qualify as abandoned under the law.