SB 1022

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
  SENATE BILL NO. 1022
  103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
  INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BROWN (16).
 5247S.02I  KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
  AN ACT
 To repeal sections 415.405, 415.410, 415.415, and 415.420, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof
  four new sections relating to self-storage.
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
1Section  A.        Sections  415.405,  415.410,   415.415,        and
2  415.420, RSMo, are repealed and four new sections enacted in
3  lieu thereof, to be known as sections 415.405, 415.410, 415.415,
4  and 415.420, to read as follows:
1415.405.  As used in sections 415.400 to 415.425, the
2  following terms shall mean:
3(1) "Default", the failure to perform on time any
4  obligation or duty set forth in a rental agreement;
5(2) "Electronic mail", an electronic message or an
6  executable program or computer file that contains an image
7  of a message that is transmitted between two or more
8  computers or electronic terminals and includes electronic
9  messages that are transmitted within or between computer
10  networks;
11(3) "Last known address", that postal address or
12  electronic mail address provided by the occupant in the
13  latest rental agreement or the postal or electronic mail
14  address provided by the occupant in a subsequent written
15  notice of a change of address, one of which may be
 EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
 and is intended to be omitted in the law.
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16 designated in writing by the occupant as the preferred
17 method of contact which shall be used by the operator;
18(4) "Leased space", the individual storage space at
19 the self-service facility which is rented to an occupant
20 pursuant to a rental agreement;
21(5) "No commercial value", includes but not limited to
22 any property offered for sale in a commercially reasonable
23 manner that receives no bid or offer;
24(6) "Occupant", a person, lessee, sublessee, successor
25 or assignee entitled to the use of a leased space at a self-
26 service storage facility under a rental agreement;
27(7) "Operator", the owner, operator, lessor or
28 sublessor of a self-service storage facility, or an agent or
29 any other person authorized to manage the facility; except
30 that, the term "operator" does not include a warehouseman,
31 unless the operator issues a warehouse receipt, bill of
32 lading, or other document of title for the personal property
33 stored;
34(8) "Personal property", movable property which is not
35 affixed to land, including, but not limited to, goods,
36 wares, merchandise, motor vehicles, watercraft, household
37 items, and furnishings;
38(9) "Private sale", a sale negotiated and concluded
39 directly between the buyer and seller;
40(10) "Public sale", [a sale made after public notice
41 and includes but is not limited to] a sale at the self-
42 service storage facility or a sale conducted online at a
43 publicly accessible website;
44(11) "Rental agreement", any written contract or
45 agreement that establishes or modifies the terms, conditions
46 or rules concerning the use and occupancy of a self-service
47 storage facility, which is signed by the occupant and the
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48 operator.   A rental agreement may be delivered and executed
49 electronically.   If the occupant does not sign a written
50 rental agreement that the operator has delivered to the
51 occupant, the occupant's continued use of the leased space
52 for thirty days shall constitute an acceptance of the rental
53 agreement with the same effect as if it had been signed by
54 the occupant;
55(12) "Self-service storage facility", any real
56 property used for renting or leasing individual storage
57 spaces in which the occupants themselves customarily store
58 and remove their own personal property on a self-service
59 basis;
60(13) "Verified mail", any method of mailing that is
61 offered by the United States Postal Service or private
62 delivery service that provides evidence of mailing.
1415.410.   1. An operator may not knowingly permit a
2 leased space at a self-service storage facility to be used
3 for residential purposes.   An occupant may not use a leased
4 space for residential purposes.
52. An operator may enter the leased space at all times
6 which are reasonably necessary to insure the protection and
7 preservation of the self-service storage facility or any
8 personal property stored therein.
93. Prior to placing any personal property into his or
10 her leased space, each occupant shall deliver a written
11 statement to the operator or indicate in the rental
12 agreement of such leased space containing the name and
13 address of each person having a valid lien against such
14 personal property and the name and address of any third-
15 party owner of personal property stored or to be stored in
16 the leased space along with a description of such personal
17 property.
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184. The lessee shall be informed in writing that the
19 lessor either does or does not have casualty insurance on
20 the lessee's property.
215. If the rental agreement contains a limit on the
22 value of property stored in occupant's space, such limit
23 shall be deemed to be the maximum value of the stored
24 property and the maximum liability of the [owner] operator
25 for any claim for loss of or damage to stored property.
266.   An occupant may not use a self-service storage
27 facility after the operator has delivered written notice in
28 person, by verified mail, or by electronic mail of the
29 termination or nonrenewal of the occupant's rental
30 agreement.    The notice shall provide the occupant with not
31 less than fourteen days after delivery of the notice to
32 remove all personal property from the self-service storage
33 facility.
347.   Prior to the occupant's removal of all personal
35 property, the operator may place reasonable restrictions on
36 the occupant's use of the self-service storage facility,
37 including denying access to the self-service storage
38 facility except for the occupant to remove personal property
39 during the operator's normal business hours.
408.   The operator may dispose of any personal property
41 remaining at the self-service storage facility after the
42 date provided in the written notice under subsection 6 of
43 this section.
1415.415.   1. The operator of a self-service storage
2 facility has a lien on all personal property stored within
3 each leased space for rent, labor, or other charges, and for
4 expenses reasonably incurred in sale of such personal
5 property, as provided in sections 415.400 to 415.425.       The
6 lien established by this subsection shall have priority over
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7 all other liens except those liens that have been perfected
8 and recorded on personal property.   The rental agreement
9 shall contain a statement, in bold type, advising the
10 occupant of the existence of such lien and that property
11 stored in the leased space may be sold to satisfy such lien
12 if the occupant is in default, and that any proceeds from
13 the sale of the property which remain after satisfaction of
14 the lien will be paid to the state treasurer if unclaimed by
15 the occupant within one year after the sale of the property.
162. If the occupant is in default for a period of more
17 than forty-five days, the operator may enforce the lien
18 granted in subsection 1 of this section and sell the
19 property stored in the leased space for cash.   Sale of the
20 property stored on the premises may be done at a public or
21 private sale, may be done as a unit or in parcels, or may be
22 by way of one or more contracts, and may be at any time or
23 place and on any terms as long as the sale is done in a
24 commercially reasonable manner in accordance with the
25 provisions of section 400.9-627.   The operator may otherwise
26 dispose of any property which has no commercial value.
273. The proceeds of any sale made under this subsection
28 shall be applied to satisfy the lien, with any surplus being
29 held for delivery on demand to the occupant or any other
30 lienholders which the operator knows of or which are
31 contained in the statement filed by the occupant pursuant to
32 subsection 3 of section 415.410 for a period of one year
33 after receipt of proceeds of the sale and satisfaction of
34 the lien. No proceeds shall be paid to an occupant until
35 such occupant files a sworn affidavit with the operator
36 stating that there are no other valid liens outstanding
37 against the property sold and that he or she, the occupant,
38 shall indemnify the operator for any damages incurred or
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39 moneys paid by the operator due to claims arising from other
40 lienholders of the property sold.   After the one-year period
41 set in this subsection, any proceeds remaining after
42 satisfaction of the lien shall be considered abandoned
43 property to be reported and paid to the state treasurer in
44 accordance with laws pertaining to the disposition of
45 unclaimed property.
464. Before conducting a sale under subsection 2 of this
47 section, the operator shall:
48(1) At least forty-five days before any disposition of
49 property under this section, which shall run concurrently
50 with subsection 2 of this section, notify the occupant and
51 each lienholder which is contained in any statement filed by
52 the occupant pursuant to subsection 3 of section 415.410 of
53 the default by first-class mail or electronic mail at the
54 occupant's or lienholder's last known address, and shall
55 notify any third-party owner identified by the occupant
56 pursuant to subsection 3 of section 415.410;
57(2) No sooner than ten days after mailing the notice
58 required in subdivision (1) of this subsection, mail a
59 second notice of default, by verified mail or electronic
60 mail, to the occupant at the occupant's or lienholder's last
61 known address, which notice shall include:
62(a) A statement that the contents of the occupant's
63 leased space are subject to the operator's lien;
64(b) A statement of the operator's claim, indicating
65 the charges due on the date of the notice, the amount of any
66 additional charges which shall become due before the date of
67 release for sale and the date those additional charges shall
68 become due;
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69(c) A demand for payment of the charges due within a
70 specified time, not less than ten days after the date on
71 which the second notice was mailed;
72(d) A statement that unless the claim is paid within
73 the time stated, the contents of the occupant's space will
74 be sold after a specified time; and
75(e) The name, street address and telephone number of
76 the operator, or a designated agent whom the occupant may
77 contact, to respond to the notice[;
78(3) At least seven days before the sale, advertise the
79 time, place and terms of the sale in a newspaper of general
80 circulation in the jurisdiction where the sale is to be
81 held. Such advertisement shall be in the classified section
82 of the newspaper and shall state that the items will be
83 released for sale].
845. If the property is a vehicle, watercraft, or
85 trailer [and rent] and [other charges remain unpaid] the
86 occupant is in default for sixty days, the [owner] operator
87 may treat the vehicle, watercraft, or trailer as an
88 abandoned vehicle and have the vehicle, watercraft, or
89 trailer towed from the self-service storage facility.    When
90 the vehicle, watercraft, or trailer is towed from the self-
91 service storage facility, the [owner] operator shall not be
92 liable for the vehicle, watercraft, or trailer for any
93 damages to the motor vehicle, watercraft, or trailer once
94 the tower takes possession of the property.
956. At any time before a sale under this section, the
96 occupant may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien
97 and redeem the occupant's personal property.
1415.420.   1. A purchaser in good faith of any personal
2 property sold under sections 415.400 to 415.425 takes the
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3 property free and clear of any rights of any persons against
4 whom the lien was valid and other lienholders.
52. If the operator complies with the provisions of
6 sections 415.400 to 415.425, the operator's liability to the
7 occupant shall be limited to the net proceeds received from
8 the sale of the personal property, and to other lienholders
9 shall be limited to the net proceeds received from the sale
10 of any personal property covered by the other lien.
113. If an occupant is in default, the operator may deny
12 the occupant access to the leased space.
134. Unless otherwise specifically provided in sections
14 415.400 to 415.425, all notices required by sections 415.400
15 to 415.425 shall be sent by verified mail or electronic mail
16 to the last known address as defined in section 415.400.
17 Notices sent to the operator shall be sent to the self-
18 service storage facility where the occupant's property is
19 stored unless another address to send notices to the
20 operator is specified in the rental agreement.   Notices to
21 the occupant shall be sent to the occupant at the occupant's
22 last known address.   Notices shall be deemed delivered when
23 deposited with the United States postal service, properly
24 addressed as provided in subsection 4 of section 415.415,
25 with postage prepaid or sent via electronic mail to the last
26 known address.
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