Bill Text: MI SB0204 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Engrossed
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-Engrossed.html
SB-0204, As Passed House, November 10, 2009
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 204
A bill to amend 1985 PA 148, entitled
"Self-service storage facility act,"
by amending sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 (MCL 570.522, 570.523, 570.524,
and 570.525), as amended by 2000 PA 443.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Active duty" means active duty pursuant to an executive
order of the president of the United States, an act of congress, or
an order of the governor.
(b) "Armed forces" means that term as defined in section 2 of
the veteran right to employment services act, 1994 PA 39, MCL
35.1092.
(c) (a)
"Last known address"
means the street address, post
office box, or electronic mail address provided by the tenant in
the latest rental agreement or in a subsequent written notice of
change
of address by hand delivery, or first-class mail, or
electronic mail.
(b)
"Rental agreement" means an agreement or lease that
establishes
or modifies terms, conditions, rules, or any other
provision
concerning the use and occupancy of a self-service
storage
facility or use of a self-container storage unit.
(d) "Michigan national guard" means that term as defined in
section 105 of the Michigan military act, 1967 PA 150, MCL 32.505.
(e) (c)
"Owner" means the owner,
operator, lessor, or
sublessor of a self-service storage facility or self-contained
storage unit or his or her agent or any other person authorized by
him or her to manage the facility or to receive rent from a tenant
under a rental agreement.
(d)
"Self-service storage facility" or "facility" means any
real
property designed or used for the purpose of renting or
leasing
individual storage space to tenants who are to have access
to
that space for the purpose of storing and removing personal
property.
(f) "Rental agreement" means an agreement or lease that
establishes or modifies terms, conditions, rules, or any other
provision concerning the use and occupancy of a self-service
storage facility or use of a self-contained storage unit.
(g) (e)
"Self-contained storage
unit" means a unit not less
than 500 cubic feet in size, including, but not limited to, a
trailer, box, or other shipping container, that is leased by a
tenant primarily for use as storage space whether the unit is
located at a facility owned or operated by the owner or at another
location designated by the tenant.
(h) "Self-service storage facility" or "facility" means any
real property designed or used for the purpose of renting or
leasing individual storage space to tenants who are to have access
to that space for the purpose of storing and removing personal
property.
(i) "Service member" means a member of the armed forces, a
reserve branch of the armed forces, or the Michigan national guard.
(j) (f)
"Tenant" means a person
or the person's sublessee,
successor, or assign entitled to the use of storage space to the
exclusion of others at a self-service storage facility or in a
self-contained storage unit under a rental agreement.
Sec. 3. (1) The owner of a self-service storage facility or a
self-contained storage unit and the heirs, personal
representatives, successors, and assignees of the owner have a lien
upon all personal property, whether or not owned by the tenant,
located at the self-service storage facility or self-contained
storage unit for rent or other lawful charges incurred relative to
the storage of the personal property, including expenses necessary
for its preservation, or reasonably incurred in its sale pursuant
to
this act. The lien attaches as of on the date the personal
property arrives at the self-service storage facility or self-
contained storage unit or the date a rental agreement for the
storage space is signed by the tenant, whichever is earlier.
(2)
The priority of a lien under this act shall be is as
provided in section 5(13).
(3) If a tenant defaults on a rental agreement, the owner
shall give notice to all holders of a perfected security interest
under the uniform commercial code, 1962 PA 174, MCL 440.1101 to
440.11102, in which the tenant is named as a debtor.
(4) At the commencement of a rental agreement for storage
space at a self-service storage facility or in a self-contained
storage unit, the owner shall provide the tenant with the following
written notice:
"NOTICE: If you fail to make your required payments, you will
have to vacate the unit or your property may later be sold at a
public sale. Before the sale, you will be notified by first-class
mail
and by certified or by
electronic mail of the amount due. The
notice will be mailed to your last known address. In order to
preserve your right to be notified, it is important that you notify
us in writing of any change in your mailing address. Also, you
should supply us with the name and address of another person who
can reach you if you are not at your mailing address, and we will
notify that person at the same time and in the same manner as we
notify you.".
Sec. 4. (1) Upon 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) A tenant who is a service member and who is transferred or
deployed overseas on active duty for a period of 180 days or more
may notify the owner of the transfer or deployment. The tenant
shall provide written evidence of the transfer or deployment with
the notice.
Sec. 5. (1) An owner's lien under section 3 shall be enforced
only as provided in this section.
(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 first-class
mail, or by electronic 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
Senate Bill No. 204 (S-2) as amended November 10, 2009
otherwise disposed of at a specified time and place as provided in
subsection (5).
(d) The name, street address, and telephone number of the
owner whom the tenant may contact to respond to the notice.
(e) A statement that if the tenant is a service member and is
transferred or deployed overseas on active duty for a period of 180
days or more, the tenant is entitled to give the owner notice of
that transfer or deployment and is entitled to protections under
this act or other law.
(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 or when it is
transmitted by electronic mail to the tenant's last known
electronic mail address. [An owner who gives notice under subsection (2)
shall make an affidavit stating how and when the notice was delivered to the tenant and shall attach a copy of the notice to the affidavit. The owner shall retain the affidavit for introduction into evidence in any potential action under section 6(1).]
(4)
After Subject to
subsection (15), 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 the print or
electronic version of a newspaper of general circulation in the
area where the self-service storage facility or self-contained
storage unit is located or posted once per week for 2 consecutive
weeks on a publicly available website identified in the rental
agreement. 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 Subject to subsection
(15), 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 and a publicly available website is not
identified in the rental agreement, 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.
(15) If an owner receives a notice with supporting evidence
under section 4(3) from a tenant, the owner shall not enforce an
owner's lien until 90 days after the end of the tenant's overseas
service.
