Date:         Sun, 22 Sep 1996 15:37:54 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Perry <mperry@efn.org>
Subject:      Re: Air Cooled Search & Rescue Team

Northcoast Internet wrote:
> 
> What are the legal ramifications/issues involved in rescuing
> an abandoned vehicle? I have had my eye on a bug carcass
> sitting in the middle of a feild for a couple of weeks now.
> The feild is really more of a semi vacant lot with a half
> collapsed house on it. I could just load it onto a trailer,
> but I would want to register it someday...and not get busted
> for auto theft.
> 
> any thoughts?

Yep, I have a couple thoughts. This isn't intended to be a flame. I've 
had parts stolen from "abandoned" vehicles sitting in my barn... even 
though the vehicles were still currently licensed.

If you go on the property w/o the owner's permission, it's tresspassing. 
Check with the city or county office of records (tax department) and 
find who owns the property, if you want to be fully legal. They might 
also the the owners of the vehicle. If it's abandoned on their property, 
they have the right to put a lien on it.

If you wish to take your chances, get the license plate number, or if 
it's missing, the vehicle ID. Many motor vehicle offices will release 
the names of owners for a small fee (something to remember the next time 
you are run off the road by some jerk, BTW). Taking the vehicle w/o 
permission of the owner and the land owner IS theft. Vehicles and land 
each have a unique standing in the law, each covered by their own rules. 

As annecdotal evidence, take the example of a friend of mine. He had a 
habit of buying vehicles. When they would break, he'd drag them to his 
15 acres in the country. These were rusting away, and he had no 
intention of reviving them. Some of the locals decided to begin helping 
themselves to the parts. One day he came home to find his sheep 
wandering along the hiway, another time dogs jumped from the intruder's 
vehicles, causing 3 of his ewes to miscarriage.

One time he came out and caught the license number of a truck leaving 
with the front end to a pickup (all the sheetmetal, plus the seats and 
anything easily removed). He got the license plate number and turned it 
over to authorities. Two nights later, he was awakened as a truck came 
out of the field, bearing the rusted frame of an old Plymouth. He jumped 
into his truck and chased the guy down. After some heated words, the guy 
pulled a tire iron, but not before my friend got his license number. 
(These two were aquantances from the city, about 20 miles away).

For taking the rusted frame, the 2nd guy was charged with tresspassing, 
assult, vandalism, destruction of private property, and theft of a motor 
vehicle. The first guy was charged with theft of property (he hadn't 
stolen a vehicle, just parts) and with trespassing. They both "got off", 
but it cost them several hundred dollars in attorney's fees (probably a 
couple grand each), and probation. The second guy also got 30 days, 
spent on weekends. Both have it on their records.

The last I saw of my friend, he had hauled the vehicles away for 
crushing (worth about $30 each) and he had small claims charges against 
both of the defendants, but I didn't hear how those turned out.

I've had some luck with vehicles sitting along side the road. If you act 
fast enough, you can contact the owner before it's towed away. If not, 
check with the local police to see who's in charge of towing the 
vehicles in their area. In our area, they get 7 days to move the 
vehicle, then it's towed to one of two impound yards. Recovering 
vehicles from these yards is very expensive, so many older cars are not 
recovered... and they go up for auction after 30 days (sealed bid). In 
the late 60s and 70s, we picked up a number of cars for a song. The best 
was a rusted '58 Chevy. The impound fee was $400+, but we picked it up 
for $27, spent $15 fixing it, drove it all over, then sold it back to 
the previous owner for $150.