New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 18 - TRANSPORTATION AND HIGHWAYS
Chapter 3 - MOTOR CARRIER GENERAL PROVISIONS
Part 12 - TOWING SERVICES
Section 18.3.12.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. MVD means the motor vehicle division of the New Mexico taxation and revenue department;

B. consensual tow means a motor vehicle tow which has not been directed or requested by a law enforcement official, and for which actual consent has been obtained by the towing service from the owner or operator of the vehicle prior to the tow;

C. nonconsensual tow has the meaning given in Subsection JJ of Section 65-2A-3 NMSA 1978 for purposes of this rule, regardless of whether the owner or operator of the towed vehicle has consented to a tow requested or directed by a law enforcement official;

D. normal business hours means any eight hours between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. excluding one hour lunch on every weekday excluding state recognized holidays;

E. owner of a motor vehicle means a person who holds legal title to a motor vehicle or a person legally entitled to possession of the motor vehicle;

F. proof of ownership means a certificate of title, evidence of current registration of a motor vehicle or other legal documentation of ownership including but not limited to the vehicle owner's delegation of the power of attorney, assignment of agent by notarized letter, or a report from MVD or other reliable source identifying the current registered owner, and sufficient other documentation to identify an individual as the person described in the documents or as the person's agent;

G. public directive tow means any nonconsensual motor vehicle tow performed at the direction or request of a law enforcement official, including tows assigned by law enforcement agencies through a rotational call system, regardless of whether the owner or operator of the towed vehicle ever consented to the tow;

H. storage means the safekeeping of motor vehicles entrusted to the custody of a towing service;

I. trespass tow means the nonconsensual tow of a motor vehicle which is illegally parked on property other than a public roadway, for which actual consent has been obtained by the towing service from the owner or lessee of the private property or the owner's or lessee's agent prior to the tow and for which actual consent has not been obtained by the towing service from the owner or operator of the vehicle prior to the tow, but does not include a motor vehicle tow performed at the request or direction of a law enforcement official;

J. unclaimed motor vehicle means a vehicle that has been placed in a storage or impound lot to which no owner or lienholder of record has asserted a valid claim after required attempts to contact the owner and lienholder have been made.