Mechanic Liens, Repair Liens & Vehicle Storage Rules

The Virginia General Assembly amended § 46.2-644.03 in 2026. The current section governs enforcement of vehicle-keeper and mechanic liens, including DMV owner and lienholder searches and notices, vehicle valuation, public-auction notice and certification steps.

RSMo §379.135 took effect August 28, 2026. For property insurance, an insured may not assign policy duties, rights or benefits before or after a covered loss, and a service provider may not solicit or accept an assignment of post-loss insurance benefits. The statute expressly includes providers that inspect, estimate, repair, restore or replace property. It still allows an insurer to make direct payment to a service provider when directed by the insured, subject to the statute and applicable lien interests.

The Massachusetts Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board adopted Advisory Ruling 2026-1 on July 14, 2026. The ruling explains that repair-shop registration no longer depends on employing a licensed damage appraiser, but insurer-involved appraisals, supplemental appraisals and related activity remain subject to 212 CMR 2.00. A shop may retain a licensed appraiser as a subcontractor, but that appraiser must be directly responsible for preparing and negotiating the appraisal.

Public Chapter 661 took effect July 1, 2026 and allows a garagekeeper to preserve and enforce a lien in certain repair-storage situations without express written storage authorization when the garagekeeper makes a good-faith attempt to obtain repair consent and provides the required delivery notice to the vehicle owner.

Beginning January 1, 2026, Washington increased the fee on retail sales of new replacement vehicle tires from $1 to $5 per tire. The buyer pays the fee to the seller, the seller must collect it, and retailers may retain 25 cents per tire for waste-tire management costs.

Effective January 1, 2026, Connecticut's emissions program lists $1,137 as the minimum qualifying emissions-related repair expense for a repair-cost waiver. Qualifying repairs must be performed by a Certified Emissions Repair Technician at a Certified Emissions Repair Facility, and the threshold is adjusted with the Consumer Price Index.

Washington Department of Revenue says that beginning January 1, 2026, sellers must collect a $5 fee on each new vehicle tire sold, up from $1. The amount a seller may retain increased to $0.25 per tire; the remainder is reported and paid to the state.

BAR's 2026 law summary says AB 987 expanded categories of presumptively unreasonable vehicle storage and towing fees, including certain state-holiday storage charges and emergency-related towing charges.

Oklahoma SB 641 created the Motor Vehicle Consumer Protection Act effective November 1, 2025. For total-loss vehicles it limits administrative charges, sets maximum daily storage rates, allows higher storage rates in specified circumstances, requires written invoices and requires auto body shops to respond to insurer invoice requests concerning pickup, release or delivery within eight business hours. The statute provides for future rate adjustments by Oklahoma Insurance Department bulletin.

Effective September 1, 2025, New York expanded the waste tire management and recycling fee rules. Tire services must collect the $2.50 fee on new tires they install even when they did not sell the tire unless the purchaser shows the fee was already paid. The change also expanded collection to mail-order, phone-order and Internet retail sales delivered in New York, and physical retail locations may retain $0.25 per tire.

Connecticut DMV notified dealer and repairer license holders that effective July 1, 2025, Section 14-64 increased the required customer-record retention period from two years to three years.

Rhode Island DBR said on December 2, 2024 that because manufacturers no longer issue stand-alone aluminum or high-strength-steel certifications, a shop's manufacturer certification can satisfy the Class A certification requirement when it includes the relevant repair and refinishing training. DBR also described temporary website-listing evidence when the certificate document has not yet been obtained.

EPA’s 2024 chrysotile-asbestos final rule prohibited manufacture, processing, distribution and commercial use of chrysotile asbestos in aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, other vehicle friction products and certain gaskets beginning November 25, 2024, while allowing already-installed components to remain in use.

PennDOT replaced prior emissions training-manual guidance for the 5,000-mile exemption in November 2024. Stations may use prior mileage only from the back of the Pennsylvania safety inspection certificate or the Vehicle Inspection Database, must retain proof of the qualifying mileage source with the exemption Sticker Issuance Report for audit, and may not use repair or maintenance receipts as mileage proof.

Alabama ADEM amendments to Administrative Code Chapter 335-4-5 took effect August 12, 2024. The amendment added use of the Department-approved electronic system and updated receiver reporting and recordkeeping requirements. The current rule requires scrap-tire receivers to submit Form 539 electronically for each six-month period by the 28th day after the period ends and to retain specified operating records for at least three years.

Oklahoma HB 1927 amended 42 O.S. §§91 and 91A effective November 1, 2023. After a denied title application, a lien claimant may mail the Notice of Possessory Lien and Notice of Sale on the same day in separate envelopes; storage charges after the denial may run only from the resubmission date; the property must have been possessed for at least 21 days before the Notice of Sale is mailed; and no additional resubmission fee may be charged to the owner when the denial resulted from the submitting party's error.

2022 Act No. 233 (H.3729), effective June 17, 2022, rewrote the storage-cost and owner/lienholder search provisions of the repair and storage lien law (S.C. Code 29-15-10) and allowed notices by certified mail with electronic tracking. Shops may charge only up to seven business days of storage before sending the location notice, must send it within five business days of getting owner/lienholder identities, and must search DMV, authorized vendors or NMVTIS before a sale.