California · Harbors and Navigation Code - HNC

HNC §522: (a) 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, sal

What this law says, in plain English

It is unlawful to leave a sunken, beached, or deteriorated ship, vessel, watercraft, or their parts on publicly owned submerged lands in an unseaworthy condition.

Read the full statutory text
(a) 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, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 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. Any property tax lien on the abandoned property shall be satisfied within 30 days following the sale of the abandoned property by a municipal corporation or public entity. Any sale in accordance with this section shall vest complete title in the purchaser who shall forthwith take steps to remove the property. Any proceeds derived from the sale shall be transmitted to the Treasurer for deposit in the General Fund. (b) 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, at the address specified in the claim of ownership, 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. If a registration number appears on the watercraft, the municipal corporation or other public corporation or entity shall send the notice to the last registered owner and the disposition shall be handled as a lien sale under Section 504. (c) Any municipal corporation or other public corporation may charge a fee to any person who is determined by that municipal or other public corporation to have caused property of a type described in subdivision (a) to become abandoned as described in that subdivision within its corporate limits, in an amount not to exceed the amount of that municipal or other public corporation’s actual and reasonable costs incurred pursuant to this section with respect to the abandoned property.

Verify at the official source: California legislative text

Facing this? Know exactly what happens next.

MOFRD turns this code section into your situation: the deadlines that apply to you, the forms your county uses, and the resolution paths people in your position actually take. Free for 3 days — no card required.

This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.