(a) Any person, firm, corporation, or unit of government, upon whose property or in whose possession is found any abandoned, immobile, or unattended motor vehicle, or any person being the owner of a motor vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost, or destroyed, may apply to the police department of the jurisdiction in which the vehicle is situated for authority to sell, give away, or dispose of the vehicle to a demolisher.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-16-108

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Tennessee Code 55-1-111
  • Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Street: means the entire width between boundary lines of every way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The application shall set out the name and address of the applicant, the year, make, model and serial number of the motor vehicle, if ascertainable, together with any other identifying features, and shall contain a concise statement of the facts surrounding the abandonment, or that the title of the motor vehicle is lost or destroyed, or the reasons for the defect of title in the owner. The applicant shall execute an affidavit stating that the facts alleged therein are true and that no material fact has been withheld.
(c) If the police department finds that the application is executed in proper form and shows that the motor vehicle has been abandoned, immobile, or unattended upon the property of the applicant or if it shows that the motor vehicle is not abandoned, immobile, or unattended but that the applicant appears to be the rightful owner, the police department shall follow the notification procedures set forth in § 55-16-105.
(d) If any abandoned, immobile, or unattended motor vehicle is not reclaimed in accordance with § 55-16-105, the police department shall give the applicant a certificate of authority to sell the motor vehicle to any demolisher for demolition, wrecking or dismantling. The demolisher shall accept the certificate in lieu of the certificate of title to the motor vehicle.
(e) Notwithstanding §§ 55-16-103 – 55-16-109, any person, firm, corporation or unit of government upon whose property or in whose possession is found any abandoned, immobile or unattended motor vehicle or any person being the owner of a motor vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost or destroyed may dispose of the motor vehicle to a demolisher without that title and without the notification procedures of § 55-16-105, if the motor vehicle is over ten (10) years old and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable.
(f)

(1) If the vehicle does have an engine, and is properly licensed but otherwise fits the description of this section, then any such vehicle left on a public highway or street and pulled in at the direction of local or state law enforcement officials must be held at least ten (10) days. If, at the end of that period, no claim has been received for the vehicle, the vehicle may then be disposed of in accordance with this section.
(2) Subdivision (f)(1) will not apply in counties with a metropolitan form of government, in which counties subsection (e) will remain in full force and effect.
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