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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 2A:44-21

  • certified mail: include private express carrier service, provided that the private express carrier service provides confirmation of mailing. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
2A:44-21. A garage keeper who shall tow, store, maintain, keep, or repair a motor vehicle or furnish gasoline, accessories or other supplies therefor, at the request or with the consent of the owner or the owner’s representative, or at the request of a law enforcement officer of this State or any political subdivision of this State, shall have a lien upon the motor vehicle or any part thereof for the sum due for such towing, storing, maintaining, keeping, or repairing of such motor vehicle or for furnishing gasoline or other fuel, accessories or other supplies therefor, and may, without process of law, detain the same at any time it is lawfully in his possession until the sum is paid. A motor vehicle is considered detained when the owner or person entitled to possession of the motor vehicle is advised by the garage keeper, by a writing sent by certified mail return receipt requested to the address supplied by the owner or person entitled to possession of the motor vehicle, that goods or services have been supplied or performed, and that there is a sum due for those goods or services.

The lien shall not be superior to, nor affect a lien, title or interest of a person held by virtue of a prior conditional sale or a prior chattel mortgage properly recorded or a prior security interest perfected in accordance with chapter 9 of Title 12A of the New Jersey Statutes.

A garage keeper shall only require that reasonable fees, charged in accordance with a duly authorized fee schedule established by a municipality or other political subdivision of this State for non-consensual towing, authorized by a law enforcement officer of this State or by a political subdivision of this State, or for related storage services be paid by the operator, owner, lessor, or lienholder of the vehicle prior to the towing company’s release of the vehicle. In the event the owner or operator of the vehicle defaults on payments to the lessor or lienholder of the vehicle, the lessor or lienholder shall be responsible for these reasonable towing and related storage fees.

L.1951 (1st SS), c.344; amended 1961, c.121, s.4; 1998, c.122, s.1; 2023, c.132, s.2.

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