§ 2084. Report of theft, recovery of unclaimed vehicle
(a) An enforcement officer, sheriff, or constable who learns of the theft of a vehicle
not since recovered, or of the recovery of a vehicle whose theft or conversion the
enforcement officer, sheriff, or constable knows or has reason to believe has been
reported to the Commissioner, shall immediately report the theft or recovery to the
Commissioner.
(b) An owner or a lienholder may report the theft of a vehicle, or its conversion if a
crime, to the Commissioner, but the Commissioner may disregard the report of a conversion
unless a warrant has been issued for the arrest of an individual charged with the
conversion. An individual who has so reported the theft or conversion of a vehicle
shall, immediately after learning of its recovery, report the recovery to the Commissioner.
(c) An operator of a place of business for garaging, repairing, parking, or storing vehicles
for the public, in which a vehicle remains unclaimed for a period of 30 days, shall,
within five days after the expiration of that period, report the vehicle as unclaimed
to the Commissioner. A vehicle left by its owner whose name and address are known
to the operator or his or her employee is not considered unclaimed. A person who fails
to report a vehicle as unclaimed in accordance with this subsection forfeits all claims
and liens for its garaging, parking, or storing and shall be assessed a civil penalty
of not more than $25.00 for each day his or her failure to report continues.
(d) The Commissioner shall maintain and appropriately index weekly any cumulative public
records of stolen, converted, recovered, and unclaimed vehicles reported to him or
her pursuant to this section. The Commissioner may make and distribute copies of the
weekly records so maintained to enforcement officers upon request without fee and
to others for the fee, if any, the Commissioner prescribes.
(e) The Commissioner may suspend the registration of a vehicle whose theft or conversion
is reported to him or her pursuant to this section; until the Commissioner learns
of its recovery or that the report of its theft or conversion was erroneous, he or
she shall not issue a certificate of title for the vehicle. (Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971; amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 217; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 303, eff. July 1, 2024.)