Consumer and public safeguards in most states require operators of self-storage facilities to notify the public in a local newspaper before offering a renter’s goods for an auction after a default. You can view the laws online, or click here for a downloadable version of the pertinent laws from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, compiled by the Public Notice Resource Center.
PNRC’s subscribing partners can view the self-storage booklet online here, or download a PDF here.
New Book Explains how Public Notice Protects the Integrity of Storage Unit Auctions
The history of public self-storage is one built through consumer trust and shored by checks and balances. Now a common sight in most American communities, public-storage facilities provide consumers with the flexibility of keeping prized possessions at a relatively low cost. In return, consumers expect to reclaim the property in good condition.
In today’s law, public-storage facilities have the right to seize their renters’ property and sell it all for a fraction of its worth when bills are not properly paid. No court or officer of the law is required. Renters must give away this right of sale when they sign storage contracts.
In the place of judicial oversight, lawmakers many years ago ordered personal notice to renters and public notice published in a newspaper to provide checks and balances against the power held by the industry. But today, the self-storage industry is fighting to eliminate this public notice to the community. In state after state, the self-storage industry is arguing that the industry should further enhance its power over its renters by providing little public notice of a property seizure and auction, other than on a facility owner’s own website.
The Public Notice Resource Center’s new self-storage booklet examines the industry’s arguments and explains why strong public notice of storage auctions is important to balance the industry’s power. Extensively end-noted, the booklet provides original source material for each statistic and assertion, making it an indispensable tool for our subscribing partners and newspaper owners across the country.
Subscribing partners can view PNRC’s self-storage book here. Single copies of the booklet are $29.95; bulk pricing is available. All proceeds support the Public Notice Resource Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on public and private notifications to the public through local newspapers, and to educate the public on the value and use of its right to know.
Flagg Brothers v. Brooks 436 U.S. 149 (1978) was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court wherein the constitutionality of New York’s Uniform Commercial Code provision which allows a warehouse to enforce a lien upon repossessed goods by selling said goods was challenged under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Court held that the state-allowed re-sale provision did not constitute state action, and thus, the plaintiff did not possess a colorable federal due process claim.
Jeffrey Douglas Jones, Associate Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, analyzed self storage laws in his 2011 paper, Four Property Wrongs of Self Storage.
Need help to better understand the self storage industry? The Self Storage Association has written a helpful primer, An Introduction to Self Storage.
PNRC has written downloadable talking points about self storage laws.
The California Newspaper Publishers’ Association wrote a letter in support of California Senate Bill 279, which would restore the requirement that newspaper notice be published in a newspaper in the judicial district of auction.
Pre-2012 News Stories
Ohio Proposal Could Eliminate Newspaper Public Notice Requirement for Self Storage Auction, Inside Self Storage magazine (12.12.12)
Storage unit auctions let people bid on junk with the hope of finding treasure, The Washington Post (8.23.12)
Self Storage Operators Want Disclaimers for Auction Based Reality TV Shows, Inside Self Storage magazine (6.11.12)
SSA to Manage State Associations in Vermont and Utah, Inside Self Storage magazine (5.14.12)
Ohio Self Storage Association Lobbying to Update State, Inside Self Storage magazine (5.8.12)
What Happens When a Self Storage Auction Brings in Extra Money?, Inside Self Storage magazine (12.28.11)
Self Storage Association Partners with National Real Estate Data Firm Reis, Business Wire (8.13.11)
California Self Storage Lien Law Regresses to Suit Newspaper Publishers, Inside Self Storage magazine (7.11)
Self Storage Politics Steps Forward Steps Back, Inside Self Storage magazine (7.11)
Self Storage Auction Advertising Legislative Changes and Opposition from Newspaper Industry, Inside Self Storage magazine (6.25.11)
Storage Rental In Illinois Blunder Leads to $1.2 Million Judgment, Findlaw (1.21.10)
Storage Unit Auctions Usually A Last Option for Owners, KCNC/CBS4, Denver (7.19.11)
Self Storage Association and New Jersey SSA Announce Management Service Agreement, Press Release (10.19.11)
Testimony before the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee on HB247 regarding self storage public notice requirements. The Ohio Newspaper Association wrote a letter regarding its testimony, and released a brochure promoting public notices in newspapers.