                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SEARCH FOR OWNER AND SECURED PARTY; NOTICE (§ 46.2-1202)

A. Any person in possession of an abandoned vehicle shall initiate with the
Department, in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner, a search for the owner
and/or lienholder of record of the vehicle, requesting the name and address of
the owner of record of the vehicle and all persons having security interests in
the vehicle on record in the office of the Department, describing, if
ascertainable, the vehicle by year, make, model, and vehicle identification
number. A fee of $40 shall be paid to the Department at the time of application.
Those fees shall be paid into the state treasury and set aside as a special,
nonreverting fund to be used to meet the expenses of the Department. A local
government agency with a written agreement with the Department shall be exempt
from this fee.
			The Department shall check (i) its own records, (ii) the records of a
nationally recognized crime database, and (iii) records of a nationally
recognized vehicle title database for owner and lienholder information. If a
vehicle has been reported as stolen, the Department shall notify the appropriate
law-enforcement agency of that fact. If a vehicle has been found to have been
titled in another jurisdiction, the Department shall contact that jurisdiction
to ascertain the requested information, unless the Department is provided with
such information by a business in possession of the abandoned vehicle that (a)
acquired such vehicle from an insurance company in connection with a total loss
unresolved claim and (b) obtained such information from a nationally recognized
title database with access to such jurisdiction&#8217;s records about all
entities having security interest in such vehicle. If the Department relies on
information provided by a business as authorized in this subsection, such
business shall indemnify, defend, and hold the Department and the Commonwealth
harmless from and against any claims, actions, penalties, damages, losses,
fines, and expenses, including attorney fees, incurred as a result of the
Department&#8217;s reliance on such information.

B. If the Department obtains owner or lienholder information as provided in
subsection A, the Department shall notify the owner, at the last known address
of record, and lienholder, at the last known address of record, of the notice of
interest in their vehicle, by certified mail, return receipt requested, and
advise them to reclaim and remove the vehicle within 15 days, or, if the vehicle
is a manufactured home or a mobile home, 120 days, from the date of notice. Such
notice, when sent in accordance with these requirements, shall be sufficient
regardless of whether or not it was ever received. Following the notice required
in this subsection, if the vehicle remains unclaimed, the owner and all persons
having security interests in the vehicle shall have waived all right, title, and
interest in the vehicle.

C. If records of the Department contain no address for the owner or no address
of any person shown by the Department&#8217;s records to have a security
interest, or if the identity and addresses of the owner and all persons having
security interests cannot be determined with reasonable certainty after the
Department has contacted the jurisdiction in which the vehicle was last titled,
the person in possession of the abandoned vehicle may proceed with the sale or
disposal of the vehicle in accordance with this chapter. However, if a vehicle
record exists in another jurisdiction that has refused to release the
information to the Department, the person in possession of the abandoned vehicle
shall assume all liability for proceeding with such sale or disposal without
written notice to the owner or lienholder of record.

D. The Department shall provide to the person in possession of the abandoned
vehicle a receipt indicating that the search requested pursuant to this section
has been completed.

E. Residents or businesses of other jurisdictions in possession of vehicles
titled in the Commonwealth, or the authorized agents of such residents or
businesses, seeking to enforce laws in those jurisdictions that are
substantially similar to the provisions of this article or Article 2 (&#xA7;
46.2-1209 et seq.) may request information for such vehicles from the
Department. The Department shall conduct the information search as provided for
in subsection A, provide the names and addresses of the owner and lienholder, if
any, for each vehicle to the requester, and notify the named owner and
lienholder, if any, by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the request.
Such notification shall not replace any notification requirements imposed by the
jurisdiction in which the requester and subject vehicle are located, nor shall
the enforcement rules of this chapter apply to vehicles not located within the
Commonwealth. If the Department finds that the vehicle is titled in another
jurisdiction, the Department shall identify that jurisdiction to the requester
with no further obligation to the requester or vehicle owner. The Department
shall collect a $25 fee for this search.

HISTORY: 1968, c. 421, § 46.1-555.4; 1989, c. 727; 1997, c. 150; 2009, c. 664;
2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 374; 2024, c. 645.