Oklahoma Statutes
Title 42. Liens
§42-91A. Lien on certain personal property for service thereon - Certificate of title - Foreclosure - Notice - Purchaser - Unpaid checks – Repossession.

A. 1. a.This section applies to all types of personal property other than:

2.a.Any person who, while lawfully in possession of an article of personal property to which this section applies, renders any service to the owner thereof by furnishing storage, rental space, material, labor or skill for the protection, improvement, safekeeping, towing, right to occupy space, storage or carriage thereof, has a special lien thereon, dependent on possession, for the compensation, if any, which is due to such person from the owner for such service. Charges owed under a contract primarily for the purpose of storage or rental of space shall be accrued only at the regular periodic rate for storage or rental as provided in the contract, adjusted for partial periods of storage or rental.
3. The lien may be foreclosed by a sale of such personal property upon the notice and in the manner following: The notice shall be in writing and shall contain, but not be limited to:
4.a.Such Notice of Sale shall be posted in two public places in the county where the property is to be sold at least ten (10) days before the time therein specified for such sale, and a copy of the notice shall be mailed to the owner and any other party claiming any interest in the property, if known, at their last-known post office address, by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least ten (10) days before the time therein specified for such sale. If the item of personal property is a manufactured home, notice shall also be sent by certified mail to the county treasurer and to the county assessor of the county where the manufactured home is located.
5. The lienor or any other person may in good faith become a purchaser of the property sold.
6. Proceedings for foreclosure under this act shall not be commenced until thirty (30) days after the lien has accrued, except as provided elsewhere in Oklahoma law.
7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, proceedings for foreclosures for the storage of junk vehicles towed and stored pursuant to Section 955 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes by Class AA wreckers listed with the Motor Vehicle Division of the Department of Public Safety, may be commenced five (5) days after the lien has accrued. For purposes of this paragraph, "junk vehicles" means any vehicle that is more than ten (10) years old if the cost of a comparable vehicle would be less than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) as quoted in the latest edition of the National Automobile Dealers Association Official Used Car Guide or latest monthly edition of any other nationally recognized published guidebook, adjusting to the condition of the vehicle.
2.a.Any person who renders service to the owner of an article of personal property by furnishing storage, rental space, material, labor, or skill for the protection, improvement, safekeeping, towing, right to occupy space, storage, or carriage thereof shall have a special lien on such property pursuant to this section if such property is removed from the person's possession, without such person's written consent or without payment for such service.
3. The enforcement of the lien shall be within sixty (60) days after filing the lien in the manner provided by law for enforcing the lien of a security agreement and provided that the lien shall not affect the rights of innocent, intervening purchasers without notice.
C. If the person who renders service to the owner of an article of personal property to which this section applies relinquishes or loses possession of the article due to circumstances described in subparagraph a of paragraph 1 or subparagraph a of paragraph 2 of subsection B of this section, the person claiming the lien shall be entitled to possession of the article until the amount due is paid, unless the article is possessed by a person who became a bona fide purchaser. Entitlement to possession shall be in accordance with the following:
1. The claimant may take possession of an article pursuant to this subsection only if the person obligated under the contract for services has signed an acknowledgment of receipt of a notice that the article may be subject to repossession. The notice and acknowledgment pursuant to this subsection shall be:
2. The claimant may require the person obligated under the contract for services to pay the costs of repossession as a condition for reclaiming the article only to the extent of the reasonable fair market value of the services required to take possession of the article;
3. The claimant shall not transfer to a third party or to a person who performs repossession services, a check, money order, or credit card transaction that is received as payment for services with respect to an article and that is returned to the claimant because of insufficient funds or no funds, because the person writing the check, issuing the money order, or credit cardholder has no account or because the check, money order, or credit card account has been closed. A person violating this paragraph shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and
4. An article that is repossessed pursuant to this subsection shall be promptly delivered to the location where the services were performed. The article shall remain at the services location at all times until the article is lawfully returned to the record owner or a lienholder or is disposed of pursuant to this section.
D. 1. This section applies if a vehicle, all-terrain vehicle, manufactured home, motorcycle, boat, outboard motor, or trailer has a certificate of title issued by the Tax Commission or by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Oklahoma, but there is no active lien recorded on the certificate of title.
2. This section applies if a vehicle, all-terrain vehicle, utility vehicle, motorcycle, boat, outboard motor or trailer has a certificate of title issued by the Tax Commission or by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Oklahoma, and there is an active lien recorded on the certificate of title, but the lien is over fifteen (15) years old.
3. This section applies if personal property to which Section 91 of this title otherwise would apply has been registered by the Tax Commission or by a federally recognized Indian tribe in the State of Oklahoma, and there is a lien of record but no certificate of title has been issued.
4. This section applies if personal property to which Section 91 of this title otherwise would apply has not been registered by either the Tax Commission or a federally recognized Indian tribe in the State of Oklahoma, and no certificate of title has been issued, but there is a lien of record.
5. This section applies to personal property that otherwise would be covered by Section 91 of this title, except that the services were rendered or the property was abandoned prior to November 1, 2005.
6. This section applies to a vehicle, all-terrain vehicle, utility vehicle, manufactured home, motorcycle, boat, outboard motor, or trailer for which ownership cannot be determined by ordinary means or by the Oklahoma Tax Commission Motor Vehicle Division, as provided in subparagraphs d and e of paragraph 4 of subsection A of this section, as applicable.
7. This section applies to items of personal property that are not required by Oklahoma law to be titled, and that do not have a certificate of title.
8. This section applies to salvage pools as defined in Section 591.2 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
9. This section applies to class AA licensed wrecker services taking possession of a vehicle pursuant to an agreement with, or at the direction of, or dispatched by a state or local law enforcement or government agency, or pursuant to the abandoned vehicle removal provisions of Section 954A of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes with respect to all types of personal property, regardless of whether that personal property has a certificate of title.
10. For a vehicle abandoned at a salvage pool, if the cost of repairing the vehicle for safe operation on the highway does not exceed sixty percent (60%) of the fair market value of the vehicle as defined in Section 1111 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, a salvage title shall not be required.
E. A person who knowingly makes a false statement of a material fact regarding the furnishing of storage, rental space, material, labor or skill for the protection, improvement, safekeeping, towing, right to occupy space, storage or carriage thereof in a proceeding under this section, or attempts to use or uses the provisions of this section to foreclose an owner or lienholder's interest in a vehicle knowing that any of the statements made in the proceeding are false, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony.
F. Upon receipt of notice of legal proceedings, the Tax Commission shall cause the sale process to be put on hold until notice of resolution of court proceedings is received from the court. If such notice of commencement of court proceedings is not filed with the Tax Commission, the possessory lien sale process may continue.
G. No possessory lien sale shall be held on a Sunday.
H. For purposes of this section:
1. "Possession" includes actual possession and constructive possession;
2. "Constructive possession" means possession by a person who, although not in actual possession, does not have an intention to abandon property, knowingly has both power and the intention at a given time to exercise dominion or control over the property, and who holds claim to such thing by virtue of some legal right;
3. "Lawfully in possession" means a person has documentation from the owner or the owner's authorized agent, or an insurance company or its authorized agent, authorizing the furnishing of material, labor or storage, or that the property was authorized to be towed to a repair facility.
Class AA wrecker services taking possession of a vehicle pursuant to an agreement with, or at the direction of, or dispatched by, a state or local law enforcement or government agency, or pursuant to the abandoned vehicle removal provisions of Section 954A of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, shall be considered lawfully in possession of the vehicle. If the person lacks such documentation, the procedures established by this section shall not apply; and
4. "Itemized charges" means total parts, total labor, total towing fees, total storage fees, total processing fees and totals of any other fee groups, the sum total of which shall equal the compensation claimed.
I. For purposes of this section, the United States Postal Service approved electronic equivalent of proof of return receipt requested Form 3811 shall satisfy return receipt requested documentation requirements.
J. If a person claiming a special lien pursuant to this section fails to comply with any of the requirements of this section, any interested party may proceed against the person claiming such lien for all damages arising therefrom, including conversion, if the article of personal property has been sold. If the notice or notices required by this section shall be shown to be knowingly false or fraudulent, the interested party shall be entitled to treble damages. The prevailing party shall be entitled to all costs, including reasonable attorney fees.
K. Any interested party shall be permitted to visually inspect and verify the services rendered by the claimant prior to the sale of the article of property during normal business hours. If the claimant fails to allow any interested party to inspect the property, the interested party shall mail a request for inspection by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the claimant. Within three (3) business days of receipt of the request for inspection, the claimant shall mail a photograph of the property, by certified mail, return receipt requested, and a date of inspection within five (5) business days from the date of the notice to inspect. The lienholder shall be allowed to retrieve the property without being required to bring the title into the lienholder's name, if the lienholder provides proof it is a lienholder and any payment due the claimant for lawful charges where the claimant has complied with this section. Upon the release of personal property to an insurer or representative of the insurer, wrecker operators shall be exempt from all liability and shall be held harmless for any losses or claims of loss. In the event any law enforcement agency places a hold on the property, the party wanting to inspect or photograph the property shall obtain permission from the law enforcement agency that placed the hold on the property before inspecting or photographing.
L. This section shall apply to all actions or proceedings that commence on or after the effective date of this act.
Added by Laws 2005, c. 477, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2005. Amended by Laws 2006, c. 247, § 2; Laws 2008, c. 98, § 2, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2014, c. 405, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; Laws 2016, c. 316, § 2, emerg. eff. May 20, 2016; Laws 2017, c. 183, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2017.

Structure Oklahoma Statutes