Chapter 102
2012 -- H 7194 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 05/25/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
PROPERTY -- SELF-SERVICE STORAGE FACILITIES
Introduced By: Representatives Petrarca, Winfield, and Ucci
Date Introduced: January 19, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 34-42-2, 34-42-3, 34-42-4, and 34-42-8
of the General Laws in
Chapter 34-42 entitled
"Self-Service Storage Facilities" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
34-42-2.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, the
following words shall have the
following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
(1) “Abandoned lease
space” means a leased space that the owner finds unlocked and
empty, or a leased space in which possession and all rights
to any personal property within it,
have been surrendered to the owner by the occupant.
(1)(2)
"Default" means the failure to perform on time any obligation set
forth in the
rental agreement or this chapter.
(3) “Electronic mail”
means an electronic message or executable program or computer
file that contains an image of a message transmitted
between two (2) or more computers or
electronic terminals and includes electronic messages that are transmitted
within or between
computer networks from which a confirmation or receipt is
received.
(4) “Electronic mail
address” means a destination commonly expressed as a string of
characters, consisting of a unique user name or mailbox and a
reference to an Internet domain,
whether or not displayed, to which an electronic mail message
can be sent or delivered.
(2)(5)
"Last known address" means that address or electronic mail address
provided by
the occupant in the latest rental agreement or the
address or electronic mail address provided by
the occupant in a subsequent written notice of a change
of address.
(3)(6)
"Occupant" means a person, or his or her sublessee,
successor, or assign, who is
entitled to the use of the storage space at a self-service
storage facility under a rental agreement,
to the exclusion of others.
(4)(7)
"Owner" means the proprietor, operator, lessor,
or sublessor of a self-service
storage facility, his or her agent, or any other person
authorized by him or her to manage the
facility or to receive rent from an occupant under a rental
agreement. An owner is not a
warehouseman, as defined in section 6A-7-102(1)(h) except that if
an owner issues a warehouse
receipt, bill of lading, or other document of title for the
personal property sold, the owner is
subject to the provisions of chapter 7 of title 6A, and the
provisions of this chapter shall not
apply.
(5)(8)
"Personal property" means movable property not affixed to land and
includes, but
is not limited to, goods, wares, merchandise, motor
vehicles, watercraft, motorcycles, trailers,
recreational vehicles (RVs), furniture, and household items.
(6)(9)
"Rental agreement" means any written agreement or lease that
establishes or
modifies the terms, conditions, rules, or any other provisions
concerning the use and occupancy
of a self-service storage facility.
(7)(10)
"Self-service storage facility" means any real property designed and
used for the
purpose of renting or leasing individual storage space to
occupants who are to have access to the
space for the purpose of storing and removing personal
property. No occupant shall use a self-
service storage facility for habitation or any other
residential purposes.
(11) “Verified mail” means
any method of mailing that is offered by the
Postal service, or through electronic mail, that
provides evidence of mailing.
34-42-3.
Owner's lien. -- (a) The
owner of a self-service storage facility and his or her
heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns
shall have a lien on all personal property
located at a self-service storage facility for rent, labor,
insurance, or other valid charges, present
or future, in relation to the personal property stored,
and for expenses necessary for the
preservation of the personal property or reasonably incurred in
its sale pursuant to law. Any lien
existing prior to the date the personal property was placed at
the self-service storage facility
supersedes any lien of the owner. The lien attaches as of the date the personal
property is stored
in the self-service storage facility, and the rental
agreement shall contain a conspicuous statement
notifying the occupant of the existence of the lien.
(b) The owner loses its
lien on any personal property that it voluntarily delivers or that it
unjustifiably refuses to deliver.
34-42-4.
Enforcement of owner's lien. -- (a) After default, an owner may deny an
occupant access to the storage space, terminate the right of
the occupant to use the storage space,
enter the storage space and remove any personal property
found therein to a place of safekeeping,
and enforce its lien by selling the stored property at a
public or private sale, in accordance with
the following procedure:
(1) No sooner than thirty
(30) five (5) days after default, but before the owner takes any
action to enforce its lien, the occupant and all other
persons known to claim an interest in the
personal property stored shall be notified. The notice
shall be delivered in person or by regular
mail to the last known address of the person or persons to
be notified, or by verified electronic
mail, to the person or persons to be notified. This notice
shall include the current balance due
with a reminder to bring the past due balance current or
risk the action of the owner to enforce the
owner’s lien. The
notice shall be delivered in person or sent by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the person or persons to be notified. The notice shall
include:
(2) No sooner than
fourteen (14) days after default, the occupant shall again be notified.
The notice shall be delivered in person or sent by
regular or verified electronic mail, to the person
or persons to be notified. The notice shall include:
(i)
An itemized A statement of the claim showing the sums due at the
time of the notice
and the date when the sums became due;
(ii) A statement that,
based on the default, the owner has the right to deny the occupant
access to the leased space;
(iii) A general
description of the personal property subject to the lien if known;
(iv)
A demand for payment of the claim by a specified date not less than fourteen
(14)
days after mailing of the notice pursuant to subdivision
(2); thirty (30) days after
mailing of the
notice
(v) A conspicuous
statement that unless the claim is paid by the specified date, the
occupant's right to use the storage space will terminate, and
the personal property will be
advertised for sale or will be otherwise disposed of at a
specified time and place; and
(vi)
The name, street address, and telephone number of the owner who the
occupant may
contact to respond to the notice.
(2)
(3) If
the owner is not able to obtain personal service on those persons entitled to
notice
or if the certified mail return receipt is not signed by the
person to whom notice must be sent
then the owner shall be required to give notice by
publication once a week for three (3)
successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
city or town where the person to
receive the notice was last known to reside.
(3) (4) When
notice is by publication, the notice does not have to include an itemized
statement
of the claim but only a statement as to the amount of
money due or the time of the final notice,
nor is a general description of the personal property
subject to the lien required. The demand for
payment of the claim by a specified date shall set forth a date
no less than thirty (30) days after
the date of the published notice.
(b) Once notice is
sent to an occupant No sooner than one day after default, the owner
may deny the occupant access to the leased space in a
reasonable and peaceful manner; provided,
however, that the occupant may have access at any time for
the sole purpose of viewing the
contents of his or her leased space to verify the contents
thereof.
(c) After expiration of
the time given in the second (2nd) notice, if the claim has not been
paid in full as demanded, the occupant's right to use the
storage space terminates, and the owner
may enter the storage space and remove any personal
property found therein to a place of
safekeeping.
(d) After expiration of
the time given in the second (2nd) notice, if the claim has not been
paid in full as demanded and the owner wishes to sell the
personal property to satisfy its lien, an
advertisement of the sale must be published once a week for two (2)
consecutive weeks on a
publicly accessible website identified in the rental
agreement. in a newspaper of general
circulation where the sale is to be held. The advertisement must include a general
description of
the personal property, the name of the person on whose account it is being stored and the time
and place of sale. The sale must take place no sooner than
ten (10) days after the first publication.
If there is no newspaper of general circulation where
the sale is to be held, the advertisement must
be posted at least ten (10) days before the sale in not
less than six (6) conspicuous places in the
neighborhood of the proposed sale.
(e) The sale shall be
held at the self-service storage facility or the nearest suitable place
and it shall conform to the terms of the notification.
(f) Before a sale of
personal property, any person claiming a right to the personal
property may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and
the reasonable expenses incurred
by the owner to redeem the personal property. Upon
receipt of this payment, the owner shall
release the personal property to the payor
and have no further liability to any person with respect
to the personal property.
(g) The owner may buy
at any sale of personal property pursuant to this section to
enforce the owner's lien.
(h) A purchaser in good
faith of the personal property sold to enforce the owner's lien
takes the personal property free of any rights of persons
against whom the lien was valid, despite
noncompliance by the owner with the requirements of this section.
(i)
The owner may satisfy its lien from the proceeds of any sale pursuant to this
section
but must hold the balance, if any, for delivery on demand
to any person to whom it would have
been bound to deliver the personal property. If the other
party does not claim the balance of the
proceeds within two (2) years of the date of the sale, it
shall eschew to the state.
(j) The owner shall be
liable for damages caused by failure to comply with the
requirements for sale under this section and in case of willful
violation is liable for conversion.
(k) The owner shall
not be liable for identity theft or other harm resulting from the misuse
of information contained within the contents of the
occupant’s storage space, which are sold or
otherwise disposed of to satisfy the owner’s lien.
(l) If the personal
property in the leased space is a motor vehicle, watercraft, trailer,
motorcycle, RV or any other titled vehicle, the owner may have
it towed with no liability on its
part.
34-42-8.
Notification of local fire departments. -- (a) The owner of a self-service
storage facility shall require each occupant to specifically
identify, in writing, the amount, nature
and composition of any flammable or hazardous material to
be stored on the premises. The
occupant shall notify the owner, in writing, within
twenty-four (24) hours of the time when the
flammable or hazardous materials are stored in the premises.
(b) Every owner and
occupant of any self-service storage facility shall notify the local
fire department in writing of any flammable or hazardous
material stored on the premises.
(c) Any person who
violates the provisions of this section shall be fined up to one
thousand dollars ($1,000) per day, or imprisoned up to six (6)
months, or both.
(d) This section shall
be enforced by the city or town through its director of public safety
and/or fire department and/or fire district in which the
self-service storage facility is located.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to preempt
the duties and responsibilities under the
Hazardous Waste Management Act, chapter 19.1 of title
23 as well as any municipal flammable
storage ordinances.
(e) The provisions of
sections 45-13-7 -- 45-13-10 shall not apply to this section.
SECTION 2. Chapter 34-42 of the General Laws entitled
"Self-Service Storage
Facilities" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following section:
34-42-9. Contents
of rental agreement. – (a) The rental
agreement shall contain a
conspicuous statement in bold type notifying the occupant of the
following:
(1) That the property
stored in the leased space is not insured by the owner against loss,
theft or damage.
(2) The existence of
the lien under this chapter.
(3) That property
stored in the leased space may be sold to satisfy the lien if the occupant
is in default.
(b) If the rental
agreement contains a limit on the value of the property that can be stored
in the leased space, the limit shall be deemed to be the
maximum value of the property stored in
said leased space.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00632/SUB A/2
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