Tuesday, May 05, 2015

New Mexico makes getting your stolen car back, quite a frustrating event, because of their civil seizure laws

So what was created as a way to curb repeat drunken drivers has, in some cases, resulted in people without any record of drunken driving paying high fees and going weeks or months without their vehicles.

Earlier this month, the city scheduled 14 hearings in one week for owners whose vehicles were recently seized under the ordinance. Of those cases, 10 owners weren’t driving the car at the time it was seized. In some of those cases, the owners said the vehicles were stolen or taken by a relative without permission, according to city documents.

“Half the vehicles (seized) are not owned by the drunks we take them from,” said Stan Harada, the chief administrative hearing officer for the city.

City officials said they are re-evaluating the ordinance to see how it will be affected by legislation recently signed into law by the governor that would end a practice in which police seize money or other assets suspected of being involved in a crime without a conviction, or sometimes without even filing formal charges.

Supporters of the new legislation argue that property can only be seized upon conviction once the law goes into effect – an argument disputed by some involved in Albuquerque’s vehicle seizure program.

Under the current ordinance, since 2010 the city has seized 8,369 vehicles and collected more than $8.3 million, an average of about $1,000 from every case, according to city documents.

http://www.abqjournal.com/575256/news/you-dont-have-to-be-driving-to-lose-your-car.html

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