Bill Text: MI SB0204 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Liens; other; self-service storage facility's right to deny access to property and sell property if rent is unpaid; prohibit for units rented by certain military personnel. Amends secs. 2, 3, 4 & 5 of 1985 PA 148 (MCL 570.522 et seq.).
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-3)
Status: (Passed) 2009-12-17 - Assigned Pa 177'09 With Immediate Effect [SB0204 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-SB0204-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 204
February 10, 2009, Introduced by Senators OLSHOVE, ALLEN, GARCIA, PAPPAGEORGE, GLEASON, BARCIA, ANDERSON, SCOTT and BASHAM and referred to the Committee on Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs.
A bill to amend 1985 PA 148, entitled
"Self-service storage facility act,"
by amending sections 4 and 5 (MCL 570.524 and 570.525), as amended
by 2000 PA 443.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
4. (1) Upon Except as
provided in subsection (3), on the
failure of a tenant to pay the rent for the storage space or unit
when it becomes due, the owner may, without notice, not less than 5
days after the date the rent is due, deny the tenant access to the
personal property located in the self-service storage facility or
self-storage
self-contained storage unit.
(2) The tenant who signs a rental agreement for storage space
at a self-service storage facility shall disclose in writing the
identity, including name, address, and telephone number, of the
occupant if the occupant is other than the tenant who signs the
agreement.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to personal property of a
tenant who is serving on active military duty.
Sec. 5. (1) An owner's lien under section 3 shall be enforced
only as provided in this section. An owner's lien shall not be
enforced if the tenant is serving on active military duty.
(2)
The tenant and the person any
occupant designated ,
if
any,
by the tenant in section 4(2) shall
be notified of the owner's
intent to enforce the owner's lien by written notice delivered in
person or by certified mail to the tenant's and, if applicable,
occupant's last known address. The notice shall include all of the
following:
(a) An itemized statement of the owner's claim, showing the
sum
amount due at the time of the notice and the date when the sum
amount became due.
(b) A demand for payment within a specified time not less than
14 days after delivery of the notice.
(c) 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) The name, street address, and telephone number of the
owner whom the tenant may contact to respond to the notice.
(3) A notice given pursuant to this section shall be presumed
delivered when it is deposited with the United States postal
service and properly addressed with postage prepaid.
(4) After the expiration of the time given in the notice
described in subsection (2), the contents of the storage space may
be moved to another storage space pending its sale or other
disposition under this act.
(5) After the expiration of the time given in the notice
described in subsection (2), except as provided in subsection (6),
an advertisement of the sale or other disposition shall be
published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of
general circulation in the area where the self-service storage
facility or self-contained storage unit is located. Regardless of
whether
a sale may involve involves
the property of more than 1
tenant, a single advertisement may be used to advertise the
disposal
of property at any 1 the sale. An advertisement under this
section shall include all of the following:
(a) A brief, general inventory, as described in subsection
(7), of the personal property subject to the lien that is to be
sold.
(b) The address of the self-storage facility or the address
where the self-contained storage unit is located and the name of
the tenant.
(c) The time, place, and manner of the sale or other
disposition. The sale or other disposition shall not take place
sooner than 15 days after the first publication of the
advertisement under this section.
(6) If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the
area where the self-service storage facility or self-contained
storage unit is located, the advertisement shall be posted not less
than 10 days before the date of the sale or other disposition in
not less than 3 conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the
self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit is
located.
(7) The inventory required under subsection (5) shall
reasonably
identify the property. However, a A container,
including, but not limited to, a trunk, valise, or box that is
locked, fastened, sealed, or tied in a manner that deters immediate
access
to its contents , may be
described as being in such a that
condition,
and no a description of that the container's
contents is
not
required. However, any a container
closed in such a manner may
be opened and its contents inventoried, and those conducting the
inventory,
the owner, its and the
owner's employees, agents, and
representatives
shall are not be liable for incidental damage to
the container caused by the inventory.
(8)
A sale or other disposition of the personal property under
this section shall conform to the terms of the notification as
provided
in this section , and
shall be conducted in a commercially
reasonable manner.
(9) Before a sale or other disposition of personal property
under this section, the tenant may pay the amount necessary to
satisfy the lien and the reasonable expenses incurred under this
section to redeem the personal property. Upon receipt of the
redemption
sum amount, the owner shall return the personal property
to the tenant. After returning the personal property to the tenant
under
this subsection, the owner shall is not be liable to
any
person concerning that personal property. If the tenant fails to
redeem the personal property or satisfy the lien, including
reasonable expenses under this section, the tenant shall be
considered to have unjustifiably abandoned the personal property
and the owner may resume possession of the self-service storage
facility or self-contained storage unit.
(10) Before the sale of 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 may be reasonably expected shall be
contacted
necessary to determine the name and address of the title
holders
or lienholders of those items the
item, and the owner shall
notify
every identified title holder or
lienholder shall be
notified
of the time and place of the
proposed sale. The owner is
liable for notifying the holder of a security interest only if the
security interest is filed under the name of the person signing the
rental agreement, the tenant, or an occupant identified in section
4(2). An owner who fails to make the lien searches required by this
section
shall be is liable only to valid lienholders injured by
that failure as provided in section 6.
(11) Before the sale of personal property under this act, a
holder of a prior lien on a motor vehicle, aircraft, mobile home,
moped, motorcycle, snowmobile, trailer, or watercraft to be sold
may pay the owner the amount of the owner's lien attributable to
storage of the property, including the reasonable expenses incurred
by the owner under this section. The amount payable to the owner
shall not exceed the equivalent of 4 months' rent. A payment made
to the owner shall be added to the amount of the lien of the prior
lienholder who made the payment and shall be subtracted from the
amount of the owner's lien.
(12)
A purchase purchaser in good faith of the personal
property sold under this section takes the property free of any
right of a person against whom the lien was valid, despite
noncompliance by the owner with the requirements of this section.
(13)
In the event of a sale under this section, the party A
person
conducting the a sale
under this section shall distribute
the proceeds in the following sequence:
(a) First, to satisfy the owner's liens up to an amount
equivalent to 4 months' rent, minus any amount already paid the
owner pursuant to subsection (11).
(b) Second, to satisfy outstanding balances owed to prior
perfected lienholders.
(c) Third, to satisfy the balance of the owner's liens.
(14)
Any proceeds of the a sale under
this section remaining
after the distribution is made under subsection (13) shall be
returned to the tenant by mailing the proceeds to the tenant's last
known address by certified mail and by notifying the tenant by
first-class mail. If the tenant does not claim the remaining
proceeds within 2 years after the date of sale, the remaining
proceeds
shall escheat to the this state. The owner shall maintain
proper records of money received in any sale held under this
section,
and the records shall be are
subject to audit by the state
department of treasury.
