Wrecks and Wrecked Property

California’s Harbors and Navigation Code Division 3, Chapter 3, Article 1 deals with wrecks and salvage of vessels. Section 510 requires the sheriff of each county to give all possible aid and assistance to vessels stranded on its coast, and to the persons on board.

Section 511 provides that wrecked property may be kept or reclaimed at the time of the wreck by the owner, consignee, or other person entitled to possession.

Section 512 states that the sheriff of any county in which any wrecked property is found, when no person entitled to possession appears, must take possession of it in the name of the people and keep it in some safe place to answer the owner’s claims.

Section 513 requires the sheriff, if wrecked property is in a perishable state, to apply to the judge of the superior court, upon a verified petition, for an order authorizing the sheriff to sell it. If the judge is satisfied that a sale of the property would be beneficial to the persons interested, he or she must make the order applied for, and the property is then be sold at public auction, as specified in the order. The proceeds, deducting the expenses of salvage, storage, and sale as settled and allowed by the judge, are to be transmitted to the Treasurer for deposit in the General Fund.

Section 514 states that, if within 90 days after wrecked property is found, any person claims the property, or its proceeds, and establishes his or her claim by evidence satisfactory to the judge of the superior court, the judge is required to make an order directing the officer in whose possession the property or its proceeds to deliver it to the claimant, upon the payment of a reasonable salvage and the necessary expenses of preservation.

Section 515 requires the judge, before making the order, to require from the claimant a bond to the people to be approved by the judge and filed with the clerk of the court, in a penalty double the value of the property or proceeds.

Section 516 specifies that, if the bond becomes forfeited, the judge of the superior court, upon the application, is required to make an order for its prosecution for such person’s benefit, and at his risk and expense.

Section 517 prohibits the rejection by the judge of any claim from precluding the claimant from maintaining an action against the officer for the recovery of the property or its proceeds. If the plaintiff prevails, they can recover all the defendant’s costs.

Section 518 provides that, if within 60 days after saving wrecked property, no claimant of the property appears, the officer who has custody of the property may sell it at public auction and transmit the proceeds of the sale, after deducting salvage, storage, property tax liens, other liens, and other expenses, to the Treasurer for deposit in the General Fund. Deduction of salvage, storage, and other expenses cannot be made, unless the amount has been determined by the superior court of the county.

Section 519 requires public notice of every sale of wrecked property under the provisions of this article to be published by the officer making the sale for at least two weeks in succession in one or more newspapers printed in the county. Every notice must provided specified details.

Section 520 requires every sheriff into whose possession any wrecked property comes to be published for at least two weeks in succession, in one or more of the newspapers printed in this State, a notice directed to all persons interested. The notice must contain specified information.

Section 521 provides that the expense of publishing notices under the provisions of this article is a charge upon the property or proceeds to which it relates.

Section 522 says that any hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts of any ship, vessel, or other watercraft sunk, beached, or allowed to remain in an unseaworthy or dilapidated condition upon publicly owned submerged lands, salt marsh, or tidelands within the corporate limits of any municipal corporation or other public corporation or entity having jurisdiction or control over those lands, without its consent expressed by resolution of its legislative body, for a period longer than 30 days without a watchman or other person being maintained upon or near and in charge of the property, is abandoned property.

Thereafter, that municipal corporation or other public corporation or entity may take title to the abandoned property for purposes of abatement without satisfying any property tax lien on that property, and also may cause the property to be sold, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of in any manner it determines is expedient or convenient.

However, if the owner of the property securely affixes to the property a notice in plain view setting forth the owner’s name and address and claim of ownership, together with the name and address of an agent or representative whom the owner may designate to act within the State of California if the owner does not reside in the state, and files a copy of the notice with the secretary of the municipal corporation or other public corporation or entity having jurisdiction or control over the lands at least 10 days prior to the removal, the municipal corporation or other public corporation or entity may not sell, destroy, or otherwise dispose of the property until the corporation or entity has first given the owner or the owner’s agent 15 days’ notice to remove or cause the property to be removed, and then only if the property is not removed by the owner or the owner’s agent within that time or reasonable extensions of time as the corporation or entity may grant by resolution.

Section 523 states that a peace officer or a lifeguard or marine safety officer employed by a county, city, or district while engaged in the performance of official duties, may remove a vessel from, and, if necessary, store a vessel removed from, a public waterway under any of the seven specified circumstances. Costs incurred by a public entity pursuant to removal of vessels may be recovered through appropriate action in the courts of this state.

In addition, a peace officer or marine safety officer employed by a city, county, or district, while engaged in the performance of official duties, may remove a vessel from, and, if necessary, store a vessel removed from, public property within the territorial limits in which the officer may act, in either of two specified circumstances. The term “vessel” is defined.

Section 524 allows any peace officer to store any vessel removed from private property when the vessel is found on private property and a report has previously been made that the vessel has been stolen or a complaint has been filed and a warrant issued charging that the vessel has been embezzled.

Section 525 generally prohibits a person from abandoning a vessel upon a public waterway or public or private property without the express or implied consent of the owner or person in lawful possession or control of the property. The abandonment of a vessel is prima facie evidence that the last registered owner of record, not having notified the appropriate registration or documenting agency of any relinquishment of title or interest, is responsible for the abandonment and is thereby liable for the cost of the removal and disposition of the vessel.

A violation of this section is an infraction and is punished by a fine of not less than $1,000, nor more than $3,000. In addition, the court may order the defendant to pay to the agency that removes and disposes of the vessel the actual costs incurred by the agency for that removal and disposition. Fines imposed and collected pursuant to this section are to be allocated as set forth in this section.

Section 526 provides that any wrecked property that is an unseaworthy derelict or hulk, abandoned property, or property removed from a navigable waterway that is an unseaworthy derelict or hulk, may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the public agency that removed or caused the removal of the property pursuant to this section, subject to specified conditions. The notice of removal must state all of the seven specified items.

The property may be claimed and recovered by its registered and legal owners, or by any other person known to have an interest in the property, within 15 days of the date the notice of removal was issued. The property may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the public agency not less than 15 days from the date the notice of removal was issued.

Section 526.1 defines the term “surrendered vessel.”

Section 527 includes a statement of legislative intent that not more than $1 million should be appropriated from the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund to the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund for grants to local agencies.