P.R. Laws tit. 9, § 2056
(1)
(a) The Administration shall be entitled to be indemnified by the person responsible for the accident for all the expenses incurred by the Administration in connection to said accident, if the damages were caused intentionally or under the effects of alcohol or narcotic drugs, or while driving an automobile without a legal permit to do so, or while committing a criminal act other than a violation of the traffic laws, or while participating in automobile races or speed tests.
(b) In the cases referred to in Section 6.3 on coverage exclusions, the Administration shall be entitled to be indemnified by the person who is not responsible for the accident for all expenses incurred by the Administration with respect to said person.
(2) When the victim in the cases provided herein files a legal action against the driver involved in the accident and the court grants said victim an indemnization under the principle of liability on the grounds of negligence, the defendant shall inquire, before payment of the judgment, if the Administration is entitled to be reimbursed for any or all of the benefits paid by the latter to the victim. If the Administration is entitled to such reimbursement, the payment shall be issued separately in favor of the Administration and of the claimant victim for the respective amount corresponding to them.
In such cases, if the defendant pays the judgment without considering the interests of the Administration, and if the latter is unable to recover the corresponding sum from the victim, the Administration shall be entitled to be indemnified by the defendant or the plaintiff for the loss thus suffered.
(3) The following provisions shall apply in the cases referred to in clauses (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section:
(a) The Administration shall be entitled to resort to the competent Court of First Instance in any case seeking indemnization before the courts, based on the application of the principle of liability on the grounds of negligence, for damages or injuries for which benefits were provided pursuant to this chapter. The victim or his/her legal heirs shall be required by the corresponding court, so that prior to the continuation of the proceedings of the case, the plaintiff to notify the Administration with a copy of the claim filed, which shall include in its caption or in one of its allegations, the number of the case of their claim in the Administration. Non-compliance with the provisions in this section shall be sufficient cause for the corresponding legal action of the case to be dismissed without prejudice, before the court grants a discretional term for compliance with these provisions, which shall never be of less than thirty (30) days.
(b) The Administration shall be entitled to be indemnified, for the expenses incurred, by the owner of the motor vehicle according to the corresponding registration in the Department of Transportation and Public Works, who shall be severally liable therefor before the Administration, unless he/she is able to prove that the vehicle was stolen.
(c) In every circumstance under this section in which the Administration is entitled to indemnization, it shall exercise the corresponding action within fifteen (15) years from the date of the accident. The filing of a claim before the court, the authentic extra-judiciary claim, or any act of recognition of a debt by the debtor shall interrupt the term of prescription. In every case where the fifteen (15) -year prescriptive term applies, once the term has elapsed and the reasonable collections pursuant to the regulation it is hereby authorized to approve, the Administration shall proceed to remove the account off its books, having accredited the collections made.
(d) In all cases whereby the Administration is notified, according to the provisions of clause (a) of this subsection, it shall appear in court to exercise its rights. Should the Administration fail to appear in court within a term of one (1) year, its cause of action shall be understood to have been abandoned with prejudice, and the court shall pass judgment to that effect.
(4) In all cases in which there is a right to recover, pursuant to the preceding paragraphs, a lien shall be created over the motor vehicle and over the driver’s license of the person liable to indemnify the Administration. The Administration shall file an application for a notation of lien for money it is owed at the Department of Transportation and Public Works. [As soon as the Administration files before the Department the petition for notation of lien, the person affected by the lien shall be notified to appear before the Department in a term no greater than thirty (30) days and to clarify any matter with respect to the lien, and upon not appearing or not paying the debt, the provided for in this subsection shall be imposed.] Said notation shall constitute an actual lien over said motor vehicle and a prohibition against the transfer of said motor vehicle or the issuing or renewal of any type of motor vehicle license and/or driver’s license until the lien is paid, nullified or until an agreement to pay is reached with the Administration. The Administration, shall establish the procedure for the agreements to pay through regulations.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the previous paragraph, the title of the motor vehicle with an annotation of lien may be transferred if the lien is imposed after the date in which the motor vehicle changes owner; in other words, the date of the formalized transfer on the back of the registration of the motor vehicle or trailer or by attesting document.
The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works shall notify the imposition of the lien in the same manner it is done with respect to administrative fines and he/she shall keep a register of liens [§ 5685(e) of this title].
If the owner of the vehicle and/or driver’s license holder affected by the notation of administrative lien considers that the ACAA is not entitled to recover against him/her or that the amount imposed for recovery is incorrect, he/she may request an administrative review at the Regional Office of the ACAA corresponding to his/her domicile, by filing a request for a review within thirty (30) days after being notified of the administrative lien.
The Administration shall provide the procedure for the administrative review before the ACAA through regulation.
The decision from the administrative review shall be reviewable by the Court of First Instance, using the procedure provided in the Vehicles and Traffic Act of Puerto Rico for the review of administrative fines [§ 5685(k) of this title].
The liens may be paid at the locations and in the manner stated hereinbelow:
(a) At the Department of Transportation and Public Works, taken in person or through an agent, in cash, check or certified check, or money order, or a certified check or money order sent by mail, payable to the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration.
(b) At the regional offices or at the Central Office of the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration.
Taken in person or through an agent in cash, or certified check or money order payable to the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration.
Should the payment of the lien be made in the offices of the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration, the latter shall remit to the Department of Transportation and Public Works an authorization to cancel the lien and it shall notify the interested party in writing.
The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration are hereby authorized to establish by regulations those other provisions that are necessary to implement the liens’ system established herein.
History —June 26, 1968, No. 138, p. 335, § 6, renumbered as § 7 on Oct. 30, 1975, No. 12, p. 782, § 5; July 1, 1986, No. 54, p. 185, § 5; June 26, 1987, No. 45, p. 148, § 3; Sept. 21, 2004, No. 387, § 4; Aug. 10, 2006, No. 159, § 1.