In 2013, the Ohio Legislature passed a law giving self-storage facilities a choice of how to provide public notice of lien sales of the personal property of defaulting renters. Instead of requiring them to publish two ads about each sale in a local newspaper, the bill also gave them the option to advertise in “any other commercially reasonably manner.” The mode of advertising would be deemed reasonable if “at least three independent bidders attend the sale.”

This year, the self-storage industry is backing a new piece of legislation in Ohio. SB-79 would provide self-storage operators with even more flexibility. It would:

– Allow them to conduct lien sales on the internet instead of at the self-storage facility

– Reduce the burden of achieving commercial reasonableness in advertising the sales. Apparently the industry was having a tough time getting three independent bidders to show up at their auctions, so SB-79 only requires prospective buyers to “register for” the sale for advertising to qualify as legally reasonable.

– Expand the options available to self-storage facilities in their attempts to contact defaulting renters and other interested parties. Existing law requires personal delivery, certified mail or first-class mail with a certificate of mailing. Under SB-79, email would be fine as long as “it is properly addressed and sent.”

The bill would also shower the industry with other goodies. But it is still in committee and appears unlikely to pass this late in the session. Nevertheless, we have little doubt the self-storage industry will eventually get it done.

SB-79 has no impact on newspapers in Ohio. But it’s a window into the relentlessness of the self-storage industry, a business dominated by venture capital interests that can afford to hire well-connected, high-powered lobbyists. The newspaper industry has seen their legislative prowess up close over the last 20 years in pitched battles over public notice requirements. If they lose one session they’re back with the same bill the following year and they keep pushing until they eventually pass their bill or something very much like it.

Playing the long game has worked for the industry. Newspapers in Illinois and Missouri helped defeat bills this year that would have eliminated newspaper-notice requirements for self-storage lien sales, but similar measures were signed into law in four other states — Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana and North Dakota. By some estimates, about 30 states have now passed laws providing self-storage operators with non-newspaper notice options that are woefully insufficient.

For newspapers in those states that still require self-storage operators to purchase newspaper ads to advertise lien sales, it’s probably worth letting legislators know what the self-storage industry is up to in Ohio — and most likely in other states as well. Their ultimate goal is almost certainly to eliminate all notice requirements.

PNRC has materials available for state newspaper groups still fighting this battle.

There’s our 2014 booklet Public Notice in Self Storage, which offers an exhaustive account of the operational realities and legal principles favoring newspaper notice for lien sales. (Email us at admin (at) pnrc.net for a print copy.)

We also recently created a one-page flyer briefly summarizing what we consider to be the six best arguments in favor of maintaining newspaper notice for self-storage lien sales. The bottom line: Eliminating the notice would save money for self-storage companies by reducing transparency for everyone else.

We would be happy to co-brand the flyers for state press groups that are interested, and/or to adapt the flyer for use in specific legislative settings.