RSA 262:2 · Report of Theft; Recovery of Unclaimed Vehicle

262:2 Report of Theft; Recovery of Unclaimed Vehicle. –
I. A peace officer who learns of the theft of a vehicle not since recovered, or of the recovery of a vehicle whose theft or conversion he knows or has reason to believe has been reported to the department, shall forthwith report the theft or recovery to the department.
II. An owner or a lienholder may report the theft of a vehicle, or its conversion, if a crime, to the department, but the director may disregard the report of a conversion unless a warrant has been issued for the arrest of a person charged with the conversion. A person who has so reported the theft or conversion of a vehicle shall, forthwith after learning of its recovery, report the recovery to the department.
III. An operator of a place of business for garaging, repairing, parking, or storing vehicles for the public, in which a vehicle remains unclaimed for a period of 30 days, shall within 5 days after the expiration of that period, report the vehicle as unclaimed to the director. A vehicle left by its owner whose name and address are known to the operator or his employee is not considered unclaimed. A person who fails to report a vehicle as unclaimed in accordance with this paragraph forfeits all claims and liens for its garaging, parking, or storing and shall be fined not more than $25 for each day the failure to report continues. The report required under this paragraph shall be by verified mail, as defined in RSA 21:53.
IV. The department shall maintain and appropriately index weekly any cumulative public records of stolen, converted, recovered and unclaimed vehicles reported to it pursuant to this section. The director may make and distribute copies of the records so maintained to police officers upon request without fee and to others for the fee, if any, the commissioner prescribes.
V. The director may suspend the registration of a vehicle whose theft or conversion is reported to him pursuant to this section; until the department learns of its recovery or that the report of its theft or conversion was erroneous, it shall not issue a certificate of title for the vehicle.
Source. RSA 269-A:32. 1967, 357:1. 1981, 146:1. 2012, 207:3, eff. Aug. 12, 2012. 2019, 242:3, eff. Oct. 10, 2019.