304.157. Vehicles left unattended or improperly parked on private property of another, procedure for removal and disposition--violation of certain required procedure, penalty.

Vehicles left unattended or improperly parked on private property ofanother, procedure for removal and disposition--violation ofcertain required procedure, penalty.

304.157. 1. If a person abandons property, as defined in section304.001, on any real property owned by another without the consent of theowner or person in possession of the property, at the request of the personin possession of the real property, any member of the state highway patrol,state water patrol, sheriff, or other law enforcement officer within hisjurisdiction may authorize a towing company to remove such abandonedproperty from the property in the following circumstances:

(1) The abandoned property is left unattended for more thanforty-eight hours; or

(2) In the judgment of a law enforcement officer, the abandonedproperty constitutes a safety hazard or unreasonably interferes with theuse of the real property by the person in possession.

2. A local government agency may also provide for the towing of motorvehicles or vessels from real property under the authority of any localordinance providing for the towing of vehicles or vessels which arederelict, junk, scrapped, disassembled or otherwise harmful to the publichealth under the terms of the ordinance. Any local government agencyauthorizing a tow under this subsection shall report the tow to the locallaw enforcement agency within two hours with a crime inquiry and inspectionreport pursuant to section 304.155.

3. Neither the law enforcement officer, local government agency noranyone having custody of abandoned property under his or her directionshall be liable for any damage to such abandoned property occasioned by aremoval authorized by this section other than damages occasioned bynegligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions.

4. The owner of real property or lessee in lawful possession of thereal property or the property or security manager of the real property mayauthorize a towing company to remove abandoned property or property parkedin a restricted or assigned area without authorization by a law enforcementofficer only when the owner, lessee or property or security manager of thereal property is present. A property or security manager must be afull-time employee of a business entity. An authorization to tow pursuantto this subsection may be made only under any of the followingcircumstances:

(1) There is displayed, in plain view at all entrances to theproperty, a sign not less than seventeen by twenty-two inches in size, withlettering not less than one inch in height, prohibiting public parking andindicating that unauthorized abandoned property or property parked in arestricted or assigned area will be removed at the owner's expense,disclosing the maximum fee for all charges related to towing and storage,and containing the telephone number of the local traffic law enforcementagency where information can be obtained or a twenty-four-hour staffedemergency information telephone number by which the owner of the abandonedproperty or property parked in a restricted or assigned area may call toreceive information regarding the location of such owner's property;

(2) The abandoned property is left unattended on owner-occupiedresidential property with four residential units or less, and the owner,lessee or agent of the real property in lawful possession has notified theappropriate law enforcement agency, and ten hours have elapsed since thatnotification; or

(3) The abandoned property is left unattended on private property,and the owner, lessee or agent of the real property in lawful possession ofreal property has notified the appropriate law enforcement agency, andninety-six hours have elapsed since that notification.

5. Pursuant to this section, any owner or lessee in lawful possessionof real property that requests a towing company to tow abandoned propertywithout authorization from a law enforcement officer shall at that timecomplete an abandoned property report which shall be considered a legaldeclaration subject to criminal penalty pursuant to section 575.060, RSMo.The report shall be in the form designed, printed and distributed by thedirector of revenue and shall contain the following:

(1) The year, model, make and abandoned property identificationnumber of the property and the owner and any lienholders, if known;

(2) A description of any damage to the abandoned property noted byowner, lessee or property or security manager in possession of the realproperty;

(3) The license plate or registration number and the state ofissuance, if available;

(4) The physical location of the property and the reason forrequesting the property to be towed;

(5) The date the report is completed;

(6) The printed name, address and phone number of the owner, lesseeor property or security manager in possession of the real property;

(7) The towing company's name and address;

(8) The signature of the towing operator;

(9) The signature of the owner, lessee or property or securitymanager attesting to the facts that the property has been abandoned for thetime required by this section and that all statements on the report aretrue and correct to the best of the person's knowledge and belief and thatthe person is subject to the penalties for making false statements;

(10) Space for the name of the law enforcement agency notified of thetowing of the abandoned property and for the signature of the lawenforcement official receiving the report; and

(11) Any additional information the director of revenue deemsappropriate.

6. Any towing company which tows abandoned property withoutauthorization from a law enforcement officer pursuant to subsection 4 ofthis section shall deliver a copy of the abandoned property report to thelocal law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the location fromwhich the abandoned property was towed. The copy may be produced and sentby facsimile machine or other device which produces a near exact likenessof the print and signatures required, but only if the law enforcementagency receiving the report has the technological capability of receivingsuch copy and has registered the towing company for such purpose. Theregistration requirements shall not apply to law enforcement agencieslocated in counties of the third or fourth classification. The reportshall be delivered within two hours if the tow was made from a signedlocation pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection 4 of this section,otherwise the report shall be delivered within twenty-four hours.

7. The law enforcement agency receiving such abandoned propertyreport must record the date on which the abandoned property report is filedwith such agency and shall promptly make an inquiry into the national crimeinformation center and any statewide Missouri law enforcement computersystem to determine if the abandoned property has been reported as stolen.The law enforcement agency shall enter the information pertaining to thetowed property into the statewide law enforcement computer system, and anofficer shall sign the abandoned property report and provide the towingcompany with a signed copy. The department of revenue may design and sellto towing companies informational brochures outlining owner or lessee ofreal property obligations pursuant to this section.

8. The law enforcement agency receiving notification that abandonedproperty has been towed by a towing company shall search the records of thedepartment of revenue and provide the towing company with the latest ownerand lienholder information, if available, on the abandoned property, and ifthe tower has online access to the department of revenue's records, thetower shall comply with the requirements of section 301.155*, RSMo. If theabandoned property is not claimed within ten working days, the towingcompany shall send a copy of the abandoned property report signed by a lawenforcement officer to the department of revenue.

9. If any owner or lessee of real property knowingly authorizes theremoval of abandoned property in violation of this section, then the owneror lessee shall be deemed guilty of a class C misdemeanor.

(L. 1982 S.B. 665, A.L. 1985 H.B. 288, et al., A.L. 1992 H.B. 1794, A.L. 1996 S.B. 560, A.L. 1999 S.B. 17 and S.B. 19, A.L. 2003 S.B. 314, A.L. 2004 S.B. 1233, et al., A.L. 2008 H.B. 1715)

*Section 301.155 does not exist.