To repeal sections 362.471, 362.610, 400.3-118, 400.4-111 and 427.041, RSMo 1994, and sections 304.155 and 362.077, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to certain banking transactions, and to enact in lieu thereof ten new sections relating to the same subject.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

     Section A. Sections 362.471, 362.610, 400.3-118, 400.4-111 and 427.041, RSMo 1994, and sections 304.155 and 362.077, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and ten new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 304.155, 362.077, 362.466, 362.471, 362.610, 400.3-118, 400.4-111, 408.032, 408.092 and 427.041, to read as follows:

     304.155. 1. Any law enforcement officer within the officer's jurisdiction, or an officer of a government agency where that agency's real property is concerned, may authorize a towing company to remove to a place of safety:

     (1) Any abandoned property on the right-of-way of:

     (a) Any interstate highway or freeway in an urbanized area, left unattended for ten hours;

     (b) Any interstate highway or freeway outside of an urbanized area, left unattended for forty-eight hours;

     (c) Any state highway other than an interstate highway or freeway in an urbanized area, left unattended for more than ten hours; or

     (d) Any state highway other than an interstate highway or freeway outside of an urbanized area, left unattended for more than forty-eight hours; provided that commercial motor vehicles [not], except those vehicles hauling waste designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a), may [only] not be removed under this subdivision to a place of safety until the owner or owner's representative has had a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing company of choice;

     (2) Any unattended abandoned property illegally left standing upon any highway or bridge if the abandoned property is left in a position or under such circumstances as to obstruct the normal movement of traffic where there is no reasonable indication that the person in control of the property is arranging for its immediate control or removal;

     (3) Any abandoned property which has been abandoned under section 577.080, RSMo;

     (4) Any abandoned property which has been reported as stolen or taken without consent of the owner;

     (5) Any abandoned property for which the person operating such property is arrested for an alleged offense for which the officer is required to take the person into custody and where such person is unable to arrange for the property's timely removal;

     (6) Any abandoned property which due to any other state law or local ordinance is subject to towing because of the owner's outstanding traffic or parking violations;

     (7) Any abandoned property left unattended in violation of a state law or local ordinance where signs have been posted giving notice of the law or where the violation causes a safety hazard; or

     (8) Any abandoned property illegally left standing on the waters of this state as defined in section 306.010, RSMo, where the abandoned property is obstructing the normal movement of traffic, or where the abandoned property has been unattended for more than ten hours or is floating loose on the water.

     2. The state highways and transportation department may immediately remove any abandoned, unattended, wrecked, burned or partially dismantled property, spilled cargo or other personal property from the roadway of any state highway if the abandoned property, cargo or personal property is creating a traffic hazard because of its position in relation to the state highway. In the event the property creating a traffic hazard is a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 302.700, RSMo, the department's authority under this subsection shall be limited to authorizing a towing company to remove the commercial motor vehicle to a place of safety, except that the owner of the commercial motor vehicle or the owner's designated representative shall have a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing company of choice. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to vehicles transporting any material which has been designated as hazardous under section 5103(a) of Title 49, U.S.C.

     3. Any government agency other than a law enforcement agency authorizing a tow under this section in which the abandoned property is moved away from the immediate vicinity in which it was abandoned shall report the towing to the state highway patrol or water patrol within one hour of the tow along with a description of the abandoned property sufficient to make a criminal inquiry as required in this section.

     4. Neither the law enforcement officer nor anyone having custody of abandoned property under his direction shall be liable for any damage to such abandoned property occasioned by a removal authorized by this section or by ordinance of a county or municipality licensing and regulating the sale of abandoned property by the municipality, other than damages occasioned by negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions.

     5. The owner of abandoned property removed as provided in this section or in section 304.157 shall be responsible for payment of all reasonable charges for towing and storage of such abandoned property as provided in section 304.158.

     6. Upon the towing of any abandoned property under this section or section 304.157, the law enforcement agency that authorized such towing or was properly notified of such towing shall make an inquiry with the national crime information center and any statewide Missouri law enforcement computer system to determine if the abandoned property has been reported as stolen and shall enter the information pertaining to the towed property into the statewide law enforcement computer system. The law enforcement agency shall submit a crime inquiry and inspection report to the director of revenue, on any unclaimed abandoned property, within ten working days of the towing of the abandoned property. The crime inquiry and inspection report shall include the following:

     (1) The year, model, make and property identification number of the property;

     (2) A description of any damage to the property noted by the law enforcement officer;

     (3) The license plate or registration number and the state of issuance, if available;

     (4) The storage location of the towed property;

     (5) The name, telephone number and address of the towing company;

     (6) The date, place and reason for the towing of the abandoned property;

     (7) The date of the inquiry of the national crime information center, any statewide Missouri law enforcement computer system and any other similar system which has titling and registration information to determine if the abandoned property had been stolen;

     (8) The signature and printed name of the law enforcement officer and the towing operator; and

     (9) Any additional information the director of revenue deems appropriate.

     7. The department of revenue may design and make available to police agencies throughout the state a uniform "Authorization to Tow" form. The form shall contain lines for time, date, location, descriptive information of the vehicle, reason for towing, the tow operator and company and signature of authorizing officer. The cost of the forms will be determined by the department of revenue. The completed form shall be issued by the authorizing officer to the tow operator for that company's records as proof of authorization to tow a particular vehicle.

     8. One copy of the crime inquiry and inspection report shall remain with the agency which authorized the tow. One copy shall be provided to and retained by the storage facility and one copy shall be retained by the towing facility in an accessible format in the business records for a period of three years from the date of the tow or removal.

     9. The owner of such abandoned property, or the holder of a valid security interest of record, may reclaim it from the towing company upon proof of ownership or valid security interest of record and payment of all reasonable charges for the towing and storage of the abandoned property.

     10. Any person who removes abandoned property at the direction of a law enforcement officer or an officer of a government agency where that agency's real property is concerned as provided in this section shall have a lien for all reasonable charges for the towing and storage of the abandoned property until possession of the abandoned property is voluntarily relinquished to the owner of the abandoned property or to the holder of a valid security interest of record. Any personal property within the abandoned property need not be released to the owner thereof until the reasonable or agreed charges for such recovery, transportation or safekeeping have been paid or satisfactory arrangements for payment have been made, except that any medication prescribed by a physician shall be released to the owner thereof upon request. The company holding or storing the abandoned property shall either release the personal property to the owner of the abandoned property or allow the owner to inspect the property and provide an itemized receipt for the contents. The company holding or storing the property shall be strictly liable for the condition and safe return of the personal property. Such lien shall be enforced in the manner provided under section 304.156.

     11. Towing companies shall keep a record for three years on any abandoned property towed and not reclaimed by the owner of the abandoned property. Such record shall contain a copy of the law enforcement officer's authorization to tow, copies of all correspondence with the department of revenue concerning the abandoned property, and information concerning the final disposition of the possession of the abandoned property.

     [12. If a lienholder repossesses any motor vehicle, trailer, all-terrain vehicle, outboard motor or vessel by having such property towed, then the towing company and the lienholder shall notify the Missouri state highway patrol of such tow within one hour of the tow being made and shall further provide the patrol with any additional information the patrol deems appropriate.]

     362.077. Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, a bank holding company all of whose bank subsidiaries' operations were conducted in a state or states other than the state of Missouri as of January 1, 1995, may not charter de novo a bank or trust company under Missouri law or a national bank located in Missouri, and such bank holding company may not acquire any such bank or trust company or a national bank located in Missouri that has been in continuous existence for less than five years. Such limitation in the preceding sentence on such acquisition of a bank or trust company shall not apply to the creation and acquisition of an interim bank charter created to facilitate the acquisition of an existing bank or trust company through a merger, provided such existing bank or trust company meets the requirements of the preceding sentence, and provided such acquisition by merger is completed in two years. Nor shall such limitation apply to the relocation to Missouri of the main office of a bank chartered under the law of another state, or a national bank located in another state by the creation and acquisition of an interim bank charter, provided that either category of bank, prior to January 1, 1997, had its main office in Missouri and moved such office to a contiguous state, with a branch remaining in Missouri. The provisions of this section are enacted to implement a state option permitting bank charter age requirements under [Title I, section 101 of] the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994, Public Law 103-328.

     362.466. Any bank or trust company holding deposit accounts pursuant to this chapter shall have the same rights, powers and protections provided a bank or trust company under subsection 6 of section 362.471; nor shall any law impose a duty to the contrary on such bank or trust company.

     362.471. 1. A bank or trust company may contract for an account, including a certificate of deposit, in the following form: "John Doe, pay on death to Henry Doe". Such account shall, during the lifetime of the person or persons first named in the account, be the property of and under the sole control of the person or persons first named; and the first named person or persons shall be entitled to cancel, change, give away, or otherwise deal with the account as if no other person was named in the account.

     2. At the death of all of the first named persons, the account shall become the property of the person or persons named as the "pay-on-death" person or persons. The bank or trust company is authorized to require proof of death and surrender of the evidence of account prior to withdrawal after the death of all of the first named persons.

     3. If there is more than one first named person who is a holder of the account, the first named persons shall be joint tenants with right of survivorship. If there is more than one pay-on-death person, the account shall be paid in equal shares to pay-on-death persons living at the time all first named persons have died. The joint tenancy referred to in this section shall be governed by section 362.470.

     4. The bank or trust company may make such [other] contractual terms as the parties may agree to with respect to an account contracted for under this section.

     5. The form of account authorized by this section shall be valid and shall supersede and override the requirements of chapter 474, RSMo, as to disposition of the property of decedents and the requirements as to testamentary dispositions by will.

     6. Any payment made by a bank or trust company on an account as described in this section shall be entitled to full credit upon such payment without necessity of determining whether any other person shall have an interest in the account, unless the bank or trust company shall have been served with process by a court of competent jurisdiction restricting payment on the account in accordance with the terms of such process.

     362.610. Any bank, banks, trust company or trust companies, organized under the laws of this state, may be merged in any other such bank or trust company, or may be consolidated with any other such bank, banks, trust company or trust companies, to form a consolidated corporation under this chapter, on compliance with the provisions of sections 362.610 to 362.810; except that the consolidated corporation shall not be a bank unless one of the parties to the consolidation or merger was a bank, or upon compliance with the provisions of section 362.118, and the consolidated corporation shall not be a trust company unless one of the parties to the consolidation or merger was a trust company, or upon compliance with the provisions of section 362.117. In the event that federal law permits out-of-state banks to merge with a national bank headquartered in Missouri on and after June 1, 1997, then any out-of-state bank or trust company may be merged or consolidated with any Missouri bank or trust company, and any Missouri bank or trust company may merge or consolidate with any out-of-state bank or trust company, upon compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

     400.3-118. (a) Except as provided in subsection (e), an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within [six] ten years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within [six] ten years after the accelerated due date, and the statutes of limitation in chapter 516, RSMo, shall not apply to this section.

     (b) Except as provided in subsection (d) or (e), if demand for payment is made to the maker of a note payable on demand, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay the note must be commenced within [six] ten years after the demand. If no demand for payment is made to the maker, an action to enforce the note is barred if neither principal nor interest on the note has been paid for a continuous period of 10 years.

     (c) Except as provided in subsection (d), an action to enforce the obligation of a party to an unaccepted draft to pay the draft must be commenced within three years after dishonor of the draft or 10 years after the date of the draft, whichever period expires first.

     (d) An action to enforce the obligation of the acceptor of a certified check or the issuer of a teller's check, cashier's check, or traveler's check must be commenced within three years after demand for payment is made to the acceptor or issuer, as the case may be.

     (e) An action to enforce the obligation of a party to a certificate of deposit to pay the instrument must be commenced within six years after demand for payment is made to the maker, but if the instrument states a due date and the maker is not required to pay before that date, the six-year period begins when a demand for payment is in effect and the due date has passed.

     (f) An action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay an accepted draft, other than a certified check, must be commenced (i) within six years after the due date or dates stated in the draft or acceptance if the obligation of the acceptor is payable at a definite time, or (ii) within six years after the date of the acceptance if the obligation of the acceptor is payable on demand.

     (g) Unless governed by other law regarding claims for indemnity or contribution, an action (i) for conversion of an instrument, for money had and received, or like action based on conversion, (ii) for breach of warranty, or (iii) to enforce an obligation, duty, or right arising under this Article and not governed by this section must be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues.

     400.4-111. An action to enforce an obligation, duty, or right arising under this Article must be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues, and the statutes of limitation in chapter 516, RSMo, shall not apply.

     408.032. 1. Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, the recording fees, including actual fees paid to a third party by a creditor, may include the following:

     (1) Any fee paid in processing the debtor's liens as provided in section 136.055, RSMo;

     (2) Any fee paid to a third party for expediting the debtor's motor vehicle or other title or lien with the department of revenue, provided:

     (a) The creditor does not control the third party; and

     (b) Both creditor and third party do not share common ownership.

     2. Either fee provided for in subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section may be charged such debtor, and is not included as interest or service charges for the purposes of state usury laws; except that the expeditor fee as provided in subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section may not exceed six dollars.

     408.092. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, attorneys' fees not exceeding fifteen percent are permitted to enforce any contract for credit provided by a for-profit business or a credit union; additional attorneys' fees may be awarded to the attorney for the prevailing party at the court's discretion.

     427.041. In this chapter, the general assembly hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation imposing liability on lenders-owners for precedent environmental conditions which result in contamination or pollution, including by way of example and not of limitation, lender liability for hazardous substances, toxic wastes, clean air, clean water, solid waste disposal, and underground storage tanks, to the complete exclusion of an order, ordinance or regulation by any political subdivision of this state and by the federal government to the extent permitted by the law except those state statutes [regulating and] pertaining to the underground storage [tanks] tank insurance fund.