MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary A
By: Representative Sanford
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-201, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE DEFINITIONS FOR THE PROVISIONS OF LAW THAT REGULATE ABANDONED MANUFACTURED OR MOBILE HOMES BY ADDING DEFINITIONS FOR ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLES, LANDOWNERS AND THE COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-203, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A REPORT OF ABANDONMENT TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OF THE MUNICIPALITY OR COUNTY IN WHICH THE ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLE, MANUFACTURED HOME OR MOBILE HOME IS LOCATED; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-205, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ADD MOTOR VEHICLES TO THE COMPLAINT FILING; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-207, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A DETERMINATION AS TO WHETHER A MOTOR VEHICLE IS INOPERABLE IN THE FINDINGS; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-209, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE DUTIES FOR THE COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO CHARGE REASONABLE FEES TO RECEIVE AND PROCESS COMPLAINTS REGARDING ABANDONMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, MANUFACTURED HOMES OR MOBILE HOMES; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-211, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO CONTRACT WITH THE SHERIFF OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE ABANDONED PROPERTY IS LOCATED TO ADVERTISE FOR THE SALE OF THE ABANDONED PROPERTY; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-213, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO CONTRACT WITH THE SHERIFF OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE ABANDONED PROPERTY IS LOCATED TO CONDUCT THE SALE OF THE ABANDONED PROPERTY; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-215, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ADD STORAGE FEES AS A FORM OF INDEBTEDNESS TO BE COLLECTED; TO AMEND SECTIONS 63-21-217 AND 63-21-219, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DESCRIBE HOW STORAGE FEES MUST BE CALCULATED FOR PURPOSES OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-221, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO REQUIRE A SURETY BOND IN ITS DISCRETION; TO AMEND SECTION 63-21-223, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE MOTOR VEHICLES IN THE PROVISION OF LAW THAT CREATES A GOOD FAITH DEFENSE AGAINST LIABILITY FOR A PERSON WHO FILES A COMPLAINT; TO AMEND SECTION 63-23-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXCLUDE ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLES OF AUTOMOBILE DEALERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 63-21-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-201. Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a)
"Abandoned" means that no person is occupying the manufactured home
or mobile home at the present, nor has any person occupied it for the past * * * thirty (30) days, or the
motor vehicle has been left unattended on private property for the past thirty
(30) days and * * * neither the owner * * * nor any representative of the owner has
informed the community owner or landowner of a reason that the motor vehicle
is unattended or the manufactured home or mobile home is not occupied.
(b) "Abandoned
manufactured or mobile home" means a manufactured home or mobile home that
has been abandoned for at least * * * thirty (30) consecutive days,
located on property owned by another community owner or landowner.
(c) "Abandoned motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that has been left unattended on private property for the past thirty (30) consecutive days without the consent of the landowner or a representative of the landowner. This definition shall not mean or include the term "motor vehicles" as it is defined in Section 63-23-3.
( * * *d) "Associated personal
property" means any personal property * * * located within or
adjacent to the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or
mobile home.
( * * *e) "Commissioner" * * * means Commissioner of the Department of Revenue or a
person designated by the Commissioner for such purpose.
( * * *f) "Community" means a
contiguous residential real estate development operated by a community owner as
one (1) development consisting of six (6) or more lots for lease to the public
where at least one (1) of such lots is vacant and may be subject to a lease,
lease-purchase or other agreement with the owner of a manufactured or mobile
home who may locate such owner's manufactured or mobile home on the lot.
( * * *g) "Community owner" means a
person other than the owner of the manufactured or mobile home who owns fee
simple or ground leasehold interest in residential real property developed and
operated as a community on which an abandoned manufactured or mobile home and
any associated personal property is located pursuant to a lease, lease-purchase
or other agreement.
( * * *h) "Complaint" means the
pleading filed by the community owner or landowner in the proceeding seeking a
judicial sale of an abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated
personal property.
( * * *i) "Date of abandonment"
means the date on which the community owner or landowner determines that the
manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property may * * * in fact have been vacated by the owner in a
manner that may lead to an abandonment.
(j) "Department" means the Department of Revenue.
( * * *k) "Final order" means the
final order entered by a court in a proceeding adjudicating the disposition of
an abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property, that
confirms the sale of the abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated
personal property or makes other adjudications as deemed appropriate by the
court.
(l) "Inoperable motor vehicle" means a vehicle that cannot be moved due to under its own power.
( * * *m) "Inventory" means an
itemized list of associated personal property with an estimate of value for the
sum and not individual component parts of all associated personal property
located within or adjacent to a manufactured or mobile home by a disinterested
third party with items of like kind being grouped together for inventory
purposes.
(n) "Landowner" means the person listed as the grantee/owner on the last deed filed in the chancery court land records.
( * * *o) "Last known address"
shall mean the last known address of the owner of an abandoned motor vehicle
or abandoned manufactured or mobile home or any forwarding address or
emergency contact address known to the community owner or landowner.
( * * *p) "Lien" means an interest,
other than a lien for the payment of taxes, on or against an abandoned motor
vehicle or abandoned manufactured home or mobile home or associated
personal property imposed by law or by written instrument providing for an
indebtedness or obligation of a person secured in a manner that in the event of
a default provides the lienholder a right to recover the manufactured home or
mobile home or associated personal property or title thereto using lawful
means.
( * * *q) "Lienholder" means any
person holding a lien on an abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned
manufactured home or mobile home or associated personal property.
( * * *r) "Manufactured home" * * * in Section
75-49-3(a), Mississippi Code of 1972.
( * * *s) "Mobile home" * * * means the
same as the term is defined in Section 75-49-3(b), Mississippi Code of
1972.
(t) "Motor vehicle" means the same as the term is defined in the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Title Law.
( * * *u) "Necessary party" * * * means the owner, any lienholder,
or any other person known to have a lien or claim upon the abandoned motor
vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home or associated personal
property except the following who are not to be a party to the proceeding to
dispose of the abandoned manufactured or mobile home or associated personal
property: * * * the county tax assessor,
county tax collector, county board of supervisors, county sheriff or any deputy
sheriff * * * and
the State Tax Commission of the State of Mississippi * * *.
( * * *v) "Notice of abandonment" * * * means a written notice by the
community owner or landowner to the owner notifying the owner at least thirty
(30) days after the date of abandonment that the motor vehicle or the
manufactured or mobile home and any associated personal property in or adjacent
to the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned
manufactured home or mobile home should be immediately removed or be subject to
a judicial finding of abandonment which may lead to a sale of the abandoned
motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home and all associated
personal property.
( * * *w) "Notice of sale" shall
mean the notice advertising the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle or
abandoned manufactured or mobile home.
( * * *x) "Owner" of a motor
vehicle or manufactured home or mobile home means the person holding legal
title to the motor vehicle or manufactured home or mobile home.
( * * *y) "Person" means any
individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association or other type of
business entity.
( * * *z) "Proceeding" shall mean
the civil action filed or to be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction
depending upon the amount in controversy being the Justice Court, County Court
or Chancery Court of the State of Mississippi in the county where the abandoned
motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home is located seeking
relief including the disposition of the abandoned motor vehicle or the
abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property.
( * * *aa) "Purchaser" shall mean
the successful bidder at the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle or the
abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property who
purchases the same.
( * * *bb) "Sale order" means an
interim order in the proceeding authorizing the sale of the abandoned motor
vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated
personal property and addressing other matters in the discretion of the court.
( * * *cc) "Sheriff" means the
sheriff (or any deputy sheriff appointed by the sheriff) of the county where
the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home
and any associated personal property is located.
( * * *dd) "Title" means the
writing evidencing ownership by the owner of a motor vehicle,
manufactured home or mobile home.
( * * *ee) "Uninhabitable" means an
abandoned manufactured or mobile home where, in the opinion of an independent
third party who is an appraiser, contractor or other person familiar with cost
of repair of manufactured or mobile homes, the cost to repair * * * the home to a condition where it is
habitable for human occupation as a residence considering the health, safety
and general welfare of the occupant, is more than the cost of demolition and
removal of the abandoned manufactured or mobile home.
( * * *ff) "Value" means,
in the case of an abandoned manufactured or mobile home, * * * the estimated fair market value of
the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured home or mobile
home from an independent third party based upon: (i) a written statement from
an appraiser or other person familiar with such values; or (ii) a recognized
national publisher of values of manufactured homes or mobile homes; provided,
however, that if, in the case of an * * * abandoned manufactured or mobile home is
uninhabitable the value shall be based upon a written
estimate from a third party of demolition and removal of the abandoned
manufactured or mobile home; or in the case of an abandoned motor vehicle
that is inoperable, the value shall be based on a written estimate from a third
party of repair or removal of the abandoned motor vehicle.
"Value" in the case of an inventory of personal property means the
estimate of the fair market value of the personal property of the owner within or
adjacent to an abandoned manufactured home or mobile home based upon similar
values that an individual might use in claiming a deduction for United States
Income Tax purposes for a charitable contribution of used personal property to
a qualified charitable organization for charitable purposes including estimated
consignment or thrift shop values for the lot.
SECTION 2. Section 63-21-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-203. Complaint for disposition of abandoned motor vehicles, abandoned manufactured homes or mobile homes. (1) Any community owner or landowner, his agent or attorney, may initiate a proceeding by filing a complaint under oath with the Department of Revenue for the disposition of an abandoned motor vehicle, abandoned manufactured or abandoned mobile home and associated personal property, setting forth:
(a) A statement that the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured home or mobile home is abandoned and has been abandoned for at least thirty (30) days, including the address and county where it is abandoned and the date when it was vacated by the owner in a manner that the community owner or landowner believes led to an abandonment. This statement shall include the signature of a law enforcement officer from the municipality or county in which the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home is located as provided by subsection (2) of this section.
(b) A description of the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured home or mobile home, including all reasonably available information as to the year, make, model number and serial number.
(c) A copy of the notice of abandonment sent by the community owner or landowner to the owner at the owner's last known address, on a date at least thirty (30) days after the date of abandonment and at least thirty (30) days before the commencement of the proceeding, and any response thereto.
(d) The value of the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured home or mobile home.
(e) If the property is an abandoned manufactured home or mobile home, a statement as to whether or not the abandoned manufactured home or mobile home is believed to be uninhabitable and, if so, the statement of the person making such determination and the bid of the person establishing the cost of demolition and removal, which may be one and the same person. If the property is an abandoned motor vehicle, a statement as to whether or not the abandoned motor vehicle is believed to be inoperable and, if so, the statement of the person making such determination and the bid of the person establishing the cost of repair or removal, which may be one and the same person.
(f) An inventory of any personal property within or adjacent to the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured home or mobile home and a statement of value.
(g) A statement as to the current, delinquent or other status of the personal property taxes on the motor vehicle or home.
(h) A statement as to known or presumed owner of the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home and the last known address of the owner and/or whether the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home is believed to be stolen.
(i) A statement as to the known or presumed liens and lienholders of the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property and the amount of such liens.
(j) A statement as to whether the property owner has knowledge of any other person having or asserting a lien or claim upon the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home.
(k) A statement that, in addition to the motor vehicle or manufactured or mobile home being abandoned, the owner is in breach of a lease, lease-purchase or agreement with the community owner or landowner of the lot on which the motor vehicle or manufactured or mobile home is situated and setting out the damages incurred by the community owner or landowner, including any credit for a security or other deposit by the owner.
(l) A statement
requesting that * * * public sale of the abandoned
motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home and designating the
proposed Commissioner by name, address and phone number.
(m) A statement identifying all necessary parties who shall be made defendants and served with process in the time and manner required by law.
(n) Such other statements as may be appropriate under the circumstances.
(2) Any community owner or landowner who files a complaint under the authority of this section, shall first report the vehicle as abandoned to the law enforcement agency of the municipality or county in which the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured home or mobile home is located no less than thirty (30) days before filing the complaint.
SECTION 3. Section 63-21-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-205. Filing of complaint constitutes consent by the community owner or landowner to a temporary easement for removal of the motor vehicle, manufactured home or mobile home and associated personal property. The filing of a complaint by the community owner or landowner shall constitute consent by the community owner or landowner to the purchaser receiving a Bill of Sale from the sheriff exercising an implied temporary easement to remove the motor vehicle or the manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable time following the entry of the final order. Such purchaser shall repair any damage to the real property caused by such removal leaving the real property in an unreasonable condition and such purchaser shall be liable to the community owner or landowner for unreasonable damage to the real property.
SECTION 4. Section 63-21-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-207. Entry of an order naming the Commissioner and setting the date and time of the sale. Upon finding that the motor vehicle or the manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property that are the subject of the complaint are in fact abandoned and have not been claimed and the indebtedness of the community owner or landowner has not been paid in full, the court shall enter an order adjudicating whether or not the manufactured or mobile home is uninhabitable, approving the inventory, or whether or not the motor vehicle is operable, approving the inventory, if applicable, and approving the sale by the sheriff of the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home and the associated personal property, if applicable as reflected on the inventory and setting a date, time and place for the sale, with the advertisement, determination of liens and financial responsibility for the sale to be the responsibility of the Commissioner appointed by the court.
SECTION 5. Section 63-21-209, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-209. * * *
(1) The Commissioner is authorized to create a reasonable fee schedule for filing and processing a complaint under this chapter.
(2) (a) Before the department conducts a sale of an abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home, the Commissioner shall notify the owner at the last known address of record, and the lienholder at the last known address of record, by certified mail, return receipt requested, and advise them to reclaim and remove the motor vehicle within fifteen (15) days, or, if the sale is for a manufactured or mobile home advise them to reclaim and remove within thirty (30) days. Such notice, when sent in accordance with this subsection, shall be sufficient regardless of whether or not it was ever received. Following the notice required in this subsection, if the manufactured or mobile home or motor vehicle remains unclaimed, the owner and all persons having security interests in such property shall have waived all right, title and interest in the motor vehicle.
(b) The department shall determine the owner and/or last known address by processing the license plate, vehicle identification number or any registration as applicable for the abandoned motor vehicle or abandoned manufactured or mobile home.
SECTION 6. Section 63-21-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-211. Advertisement
for the sale. The Commissioner shall advertise a notice of sale by
publication and posting or shall contract with the sheriff of the county
where the motor vehicle or manufactured or mobile home is located to advertise
a notice of sale by publication and posting in accordance with this section.
The sheriff shall charge a reasonable fee for advertising the notice described
in this section. The notice of sale shall be published one (1) time a week
for three (3) weeks prior to the sale in a newspaper published in the county
where the motor vehicle or manufactured or mobile home is located, or,
if none such paper is so published in said county, in some paper having a general
circulation therein. The notice of sale shall be posted * * * at the courthouse of the
county where the abandoned motor vehicle
or abandoned manufactured or mobile home is located. The notice of sale
shall contain a detailed description of the abandoned motor vehicle or the
abandoned manufactured or mobile home and a general description of the
associated personal property to be sold and the date, time and place of the
sale. Upon request, the Commissioner shall provide the inventory to any
interested person. The Commissioner shall mail a copy of the notice of sale by
United States mail postage prepaid to the last known address of the owner as
shown in the complaint if the owner has not appeared as a party to the
proceeding.
SECTION 7. Section 63-21-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-213. Procedure for the sale. The sale shall be made at the place, on the date and during the time set by the court. The Commissioner shall conduct the sale or contract with the sheriff of the county in which the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home is located to conduct the sale. * * *
If the sheriff * * * conducts the sale * * *, he or she shall charge a
reasonable fee for conducting the sale with the fee to be applied to the sheriff's
operating fund. The abandoned motor vehicle or the manufactured or
mobile home and associated personal property shall be sold for cash to the
highest bidder. Each bidder shall submit a bid in at least a minimum amount
that will pay the sheriff's fee, the tax collector for any past due taxes, the
lien creditors in their order of priority and all costs of court and
Commissioner's fees. The community owner or landowner may purchase at any
sale, and any such sale shall not be invalid because of the relationship of
such purchaser to the community owner or landowner or any lienholder. The
community owner or landowner and any lienholder may credit bid by deducting the
amount due to such bidder from the bidder's bid. The highest bid accepted * * * at the sale shall be paid to the
Commissioner for disbursement. If the sheriff conducts the
sale, * * * he or she shall deliver to the
Commissioner a report of the sale, promptly upon completion of the sale, which * * * includes a copy of the notice
of sale authorizing the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle or the
abandoned manufactured or mobile home and a list of the associated personal
property sold along with the same, the total amount paid, * * *
the name of the sheriff conducting the sale and the name of the person to whom
the sale was made. The sheriff shall execute and deliver a bill of sale to the
purchaser who shall be the highest bidder with the Commissioner to witness the
bill of sale. The signature by the sheriff and the Commissioner to the bill of
sale is a certification by them that the sale was conducted pursuant to the
sale order and to the highest bidder for cash. The bill of sale may be
conditioned upon the entry by the court of the final order. If there is no
bidder at the sale, the sheriff's fees shall be paid by the community owner or
landowner with such costs to be assessed as costs of court, upon filing of
proof of payment of the same in the proceeding. If there is no bid, the
community owner or landowner may seek a new sale order from the Commissioner
providing for another sale of the motor vehicle, manufactured home
or mobile home and associated personal property.
SECTION 8. Section 63-21-215, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-215. Payment of
debt and exercise of possession. Any interested party may, at any time
before a sale is made under the terms and provisions of the sale order, stop a
threatened sale of a manufactured or mobile home by paying the amount due to
the community owner or landowner on the amount actually past due rather than
any amount accelerated, along with all accrued costs, attorneys' fees, * * * storage fees, sheriffs'
fees, such taxes due and not paid, with proper interest and penalties thereon.
Any such payment or payments shall reinstate, according to the terms of the
agreement with the community owner or landowner, if applicable, the
amount so accelerated, the same as if such amount had not been accelerated or
put in default. Any award of storage fees shall be calculated by the
Commissioner beginning on the first day after the complaint is filed through
the date of removal for the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned
manufactured or mobile home.
SECTION 9. Section 63-21-217, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-217. Disbursement of bid amount by Commissioner. The Commissioner shall disburse the bid proceeds as follows: first, to the sheriff for the sheriff's fee; second, to the tax collector for any past due taxes, liens and assessments; third, to the lien creditors in their order of priority; fourth, to the community owner or landowner for the indebtedness, interest, storage fees and attorney's fees owed thereto and all costs of court and Commissioner's fees; and fifth, to the owner, or if the abandoned manufactured or mobile home was adjudicated by the sale order as uninhabitable, then to the community owner or landowner in the amount of the estimate of demolition and removal. Any award of storage fees shall be calculated by the Commissioner beginning on the first day after the complaint is filed through the date of removal for the abandoned motor vehicle or the abandoned manufactured or mobile home. If the owner has appeared in the proceeding or was served with process other than by publication, any amount to be paid to the owner and not paid directly to the owner may be paid by interpleading the same with the clerk of court where the proceeding is pending for the benefit of the owner. If the owner has not appeared in the proceeding and service of process was obtained by publication, then the Commissioner shall pay the same to the Treasurer of the State of Mississippi as unclaimed funds on such forms as may be prescribed by the Treasurer. The Commissioner shall have the right to delay disbursement of the bid amount until the court has entered a final order.
SECTION 10. Section 63-21-219, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-219. Entry of a final order. Upon the Commissioner filing a report of the sale with the court attaching a copy of the sheriff's report of the sale and a list of the actual or proposed disbursements from the accepted bid, the court may enter a final order approving the sale and the disbursement of the proceeds from the accepted bid and include such other provisions as deemed appropriate by the court. The court may enter any other order finally disposing of the proceeding, including an order of dismissal.
SECTION 11. Section 63-21-221, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-221. Submission to the Department of Revenue. (1) The purchaser shall submit a copy of the Bill of Sale and the Final Order to the Department of Revenue along with such forms as may be prescribed by it for the issuance of a new title to the purchaser.
(2) (a) Upon sale of an abandoned motor vehicle, manufactured home or mobile home, if the department is not satisfied as to the ownership or that there are no undisclosed security interests in it, the department may accept the application but shall either:
(i) Withhold issuance of a certificate of title until the applicant presents documents reasonably sufficient to satisfy the department as to the applicant's ownership of the vehicle and that there are no undisclosed security interests on it; or
(ii) As a condition of issuing a certificate of title, require the purchaser of the motor vehicle to file with the department a bond in the form prescribed by the department and executed by the applicant, and executed by a person authorized to conduct a surety business in this state. The bond shall be in an amount prescribed by the department and conditioned to indemnify any prior owner and lienholder and any subsequent purchaser of the vehicle or person acquiring any security interest in it, and their respective successors in interest, against any expense, loss, or damage, including reasonable attorney's fees, by reason of the issuance of the certificate of title of the vehicle or on account of any defect in or undisclosed security interest upon the right, title and interest of the applicant in and to the vehicle. Any such interested person has a right of action to recover on the bond for any breach of its conditions, but the aggregate liability of the surety to all persons shall not exceed the amount of the bond. The bond shall be returned at the end of three (3) years or prior thereto if the motor vehicle, manufactured home or mobile home is no longer registered in this state and the currently valid certificate of title is surrendered to the department, unless the department has been notified of the pendency of an action to recover on the bond.
(b) The department may establish uniform bond amounts for purposes of this subsection (2).
SECTION 12. Section 63-21-223, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-21-223. Good faith defense of owner of real property to claims of wrongful sale of a manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property. A community owner or landowner who believes in good faith that the manufactured or mobile home or motor vehicle and associated personal property that was the subject of a proceeding to dispose of the same was in fact abandoned shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever to the owner or a lienholder or other interested person arising from the proceedings provided the owner served process by publication to all unknown persons having an interest in the manufactured or mobile home and associated personal property.
SECTION 13. Section 63-23-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-23-3. For the purposes of this chapter, an "abandoned motor vehicle" shall mean a motor vehicle as defined by the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Title Law:
(a) Which has been left by the owner, or some person acting for the owner, with an automobile dealer, repairman or wrecker service for repair or for some other reason and has not been called for by such owner or other person within a period of forty (40) days after the time agreed upon or within forty (40) days after such vehicle is turned over to such dealer, repairman or wrecker service when no time is agreed upon.
(b) Which is left unattended on a public street, road or highway or other public property for a period of at least five (5) days.
(c) Which has been lawfully towed onto the property of another at the written request of a law enforcement officer and left there for a period of not less than forty (40) days without any one having made claim thereto.
(d) Which shall not include abandoned motor vehicles, abandoned manufactured or abandoned mobile homes as defined in Section 63-23-201 et seq.
SECTION 14. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.