Bill Text: IL SB3460 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Chaptered


Bill Title: Amends the Self-Service Storage Facility Act. Provides that a rental agreement may be delivered and accepted by electronic mail. Provides that if the occupant does not sign a written rental agreement that the owner has tendered to the occupant, the occupant's continued use of the storage space shall constitute an acceptance of the rental agreement with the same effect as if it had been signed by the occupant. Defines "default" as the failure to perform any obligation or duty set forth in the rental agreement or the Act. Includes a trailer in the types of property for which specified towing remedies are available. Provides that an occupant may not use a self-service storage facility after the owner has delivered a written notice of termination or non-renewal of the occupant's rental agreement. Provides that notice must be in person, by verified mail, or by electronic mail. Allows the owner to place reasonable restrictions on the occupant's use of the self-service storage facility before removal of personal property, including denying access to the self-service storage facility, except for the occupant to remove personal property during the owner's normal business hours. Provides that the owner may dispose of any personal property remaining at the self-service storage facility after the date provided in the written notice.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Passed) 2024-08-09 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-1003 [SB3460 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3460-Chaptered.html

Public Act 103-1003
SB3460 EnrolledLRB103 38164 JRC 68297 b
AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Self-Service Storage Facility Act is
amended by changing Sections 2, 4, and 7 as follows:
(770 ILCS 95/2) (from Ch. 114, par. 802)
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
context clearly requires otherwise:
(A) "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 such for the purpose of storing and removing
personal property. A self-service storage facility is not a
warehouse for purposes of Article 7 of the Uniform Commercial
Code. If an owner issues any warehouse receipt, bill of
lading, or other document of title for the personal property
stored, the provisions of this Act do not apply.
(B) "Owner" means the owner, operator, lessor, or
sublessor of a self-service storage facility, his agent, or
any other person authorized by him to manage the facility, or
to receive rent from an occupant under a rental agreement.
(C) "Occupant" means a person, his sublessee, successor,
or assign, entitled to the use of the storage space at a
self-service storage facility under a rental agreement, to the
exclusion of others.
(D) "Rental agreement" means any agreement or lease,
written or oral, that establishes or modifies the terms,
conditions, rules or any other provisions concerning the use
and occupancy of a self-service storage facility. The rental
agreement may be delivered and accepted by electronic mail, or
by any other electronic record pursuant to the Uniform
Electronic Transactions Act. If the occupant does not sign a
written rental agreement that the owner has tendered to the
occupant, the occupant's continued use of the storage space
shall constitute an acceptance of the rental agreement with
the same effect as if it had been signed by the occupant.
(E) "Personal property" means movable property not affixed
to land, and includes, but is not limited to goods,
merchandise, motor vehicles, watercraft, and household items.
(F) "Last known address" means that mailing address or
electronic mail address provided by the occupant in the latest
rental agreement, or the mailing address or electronic mail
address provided by the occupant in a subsequent written
notice of a change of address.
(G) "Late fee" means a charge assessed for an occupant's
failure to pay rent when due. "Late fee" does not include
interest on a debt, reasonable expenses incurred in the
collection of unpaid rent, or costs associated with the
enforcement of any other remedy provided by statute or
contract.
(H) "Verified mail" means any method of mailing that is
offered by the United States Postal Service or private
delivery service that provides evidence of mailing.
(I) "Electronic mail" means the transmission of
information or a communication by the use of a computer or
other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique
address and that is received by that person.
(J) "Default" means the failure to perform any obligation
or duty set forth in the rental agreement or this Act.
(Source: P.A. 97-599, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1106, eff. 1-1-15.)
(770 ILCS 95/4) (from Ch. 114, par. 804)
Sec. 4. Enforcement of lien. An owner's lien as provided
for in Section 3 of this Act for a claim which has become due
may be satisfied as follows:
(A) The occupant shall be notified.
(B) The notice shall be delivered:
(1) in person; or
(2) by verified mail or by electronic mail to the last
known address of the occupant.
(C) The notice shall include:
(1) An itemized statement of the owner's claim showing
the sum due at the time of the notice and the date when the
sum became due;
(2) The name of the facility, address, telephone
number, date, time, location, and manner of the lien sale,
and the occupant's name and unit number;
(3) A notice of denial of access to the personal
property, if such denial is permitted under the terms of
the rental agreement, which provides the name, street
address, and telephone number of the owner, or his
designated agent, whom the occupant may contact to respond
to this notice;
(3.5) Except as otherwise provided by a rental
agreement and until a lien sale, the exclusive care,
custody, and control of all personal property stored in
the leased self-service storage space remains vested in
the occupant. No bailment or higher level of liability is
created if the owner over-locks the occupant's lock,
thereby denying the occupant access to the storage space.
Rent and other charges related to the lien continue to
accrue during the period of time when access is denied
because of non-payment;
(4) A demand for payment within a specified time not
less than 14 days after delivery of the notice;
(5) A conspicuous statement that unless the claim is
paid within the time stated in the notice, the personal
property will be advertised for sale or other disposition,
and will be sold or otherwise disposed of at a specified
time and place.
(D) Any notice made pursuant to this Section shall be
presumed delivered when it is deposited with the United States
Postal Service, and properly addressed with postage prepaid or
sent by electronic mail and the owner receives a receipt of
delivery to the occupant's last known address, except if the
owner does not receive a receipt of delivery for the notice
sent by electronic mail, the notice is presumed delivered when
it is sent to the occupant by verified mail to the occupant's
last known mailing address.
(E) After the expiration of the time given in the notice,
an advertisement of the sale or other disposition shall be
published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper
of general circulation where the self-service storage facility
is located. The advertisement shall include:
(1) The name of the facility, address, telephone
number, date, time, location, and manner of lien sale and
the occupant's name and unit number.
(2) (Blank).
(3) The sale or other disposition shall take place not
sooner than 15 days after the first publication. If there
is no newspaper of general circulation where the
self-service storage facility is located, the
advertisement shall be posted at least 10 days before the
date of the sale or other disposition in not less than 6
conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the
self-service storage facility is located.
(F) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property
shall conform to the terms of the notification as provided for
in this Section.
(G) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property
shall be held at the self-service storage facility, or at the
nearest suitable place to where the personal property is held
or stored. A sale under this Section shall be deemed to be held
at the self-service storage facility where the personal
property is stored if the sale is held on a publicly accessible
online website.
(G-5) If the property upon which the lien is claimed is a
motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft and rent or other
charges related to the property remain unpaid or unsatisfied
for 60 days or the occupant is in default of the rental
agreement for 60 days, the owner may have the property towed
from the self-service storage facility. If a motor vehicle,
trailer, or watercraft is towed, the owner shall not be liable
for any damage to the motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft,
once the tower takes possession of the property. After the
motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft is towed, the owner may
pursue other collection options against the delinquent
occupant for any outstanding debt. If the owner chooses to
sell a motor vehicle, aircraft, mobile home, moped,
motorcycle, snowmobile, trailer, or watercraft, the owner
shall contact the Secretary of State and any other
governmental agency as reasonably necessary to determine the
name and address of the title holder or lienholder of the item,
and the owner shall notify every identified title holder or
lienholder of the time and place of the proposed sale. The
owner is required to notify the holder of a security interest
only if the security interest is filed under the name of the
person signing the rental agreement or an occupant. An owner
who fails to make the lien searches required by this Section is
liable only to valid lienholders injured by that failure as
provided in Section 3.
(H) Before any sale or other disposition of personal
property pursuant to this Section, the occupant may pay the
amount necessary to satisfy the lien, and the reasonable
expenses incurred under this Section, and thereby redeem the
personal property. Upon receipt of such payment, the owner
shall return the personal property, and thereafter the owner
shall have no liability to any person with respect to such
personal property.
(I) A purchaser in good faith of the personal property
sold to satisfy a lien, as provided for in Section 3 of this
Act, takes the property free of any rights of persons against
whom the lien was valid, despite noncompliance by the owner
with the requirements of this Section.
(J) In the event of a sale under this Section, the owner
may satisfy his lien from the proceeds of the sale, but shall
hold the balance, if any, for delivery on demand to the
occupant. If the occupant does not claim the balance of the
proceeds within one year of the date of sale, it shall become
the property of the owner without further recourse by the
occupant.
(K) The lien on any personal property created by this Act
shall be terminated as to any such personal property which is
sold or otherwise disposed of pursuant to this Act and any such
personal property which is removed from the self-service
storage facility.
(L) If 3 or more bidders who are unrelated to the owner are
in attendance at a sale held under this Section, the sale and
its proceeds are deemed to be commercially reasonable.
(Source: P.A. 102-687, eff. 12-17-21.)
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