BILL REQ. #:  S-1336.1 

Read first time 02/09/2005.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research & Development.

     AN ACT Relating to self-service storage units; and amending RCW 19.150.020, 19.150.060, and 19.150.080.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 19.150.020 and 1988 c 240 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     The owner of a self-service storage facility and his or her heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns have a lien upon all personal property located at a self-service storage facility for rent, labor, or other charges, present or future, incurred pursuant to the rental agreement, and for expenses necessary for the preservation, sale, or disposition of personal property subject to this chapter. The lien shall be on the entire contents of the storage unit, not on individual items contained within the storage unit. The lien may be enforced consistent with this chapter. However, any lien on a motor vehicle or boat which has attached and is set forth in the documents of title to the motor vehicle or boat shall have priority over any lien created pursuant to this chapter.

Sec. 2   RCW 19.150.060 and 1996 c 220 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     If a notice has been sent, as required by RCW 19.150.040, and the total sum due has not been paid as of the date specified in the preliminary lien notice, the lien proposed by this notice attaches as of that date and the owner may deny an occupant access to the space, enter the space, inventory the goods therein, and remove any property found therein to a place of safe keeping. The owner shall then serve by personal service or send to the occupant, addressed to the occupant's last known address and to the alternative address specified in RCW 19.150.120(2) by certified mail, postage prepaid, a notice of lien sale or notice of disposal which shall state all of the following:
     (1) That the occupant's right to use the storage space has terminated and that the occupant no longer has access to the stored property.
     (2) That the stored property is subject to a lien, and the amount of the lien accrued and to accrue prior to the date required to be specified in subsection (3) of this section.
     (3) That the property, other than personal papers and personal effects, may be sold to satisfy the lien after a specified date which is not less than fourteen days from the date of mailing the lien sale notice, or a ((minimum)) maximum of ((forty-two)) one hundred eighty days after the date when any part of the rent or other charges due from the occupants remain unpaid, whichever is later, unless the amount of the lien is paid. If the total value of property in the storage space is less than three hundred dollars, the owner may, instead of sale, dispose of the property in any reasonable manner, subject to the restrictions of RCW 19.150.080(4).
     (4) That any excess proceeds of the sale or other disposition under RCW 19.150.080(2) over the lien amount and costs of sale will be retained by the owner and may be reclaimed by the occupant, or claimed by another person, at any time for a period of six months from the sale and that thereafter the proceeds will be turned over to the state as abandoned property as provided in RCW 63.29.165.
     (5) That any personal papers and personal effects will be retained by the owner and may be reclaimed by the occupant at any time for a period of six months ((from)) after the date of the sale or other disposition of property and that thereafter the owner may dispose of the personal papers and effects in a reasonable manner, subject to the restrictions of RCW 19.150.080(((3))) (6).
     (6) That the occupant has no right to repurchase any property sold at the lien sale.

Sec. 3   RCW 19.150.080 and 1996 c 220 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) After the expiration of the time given in the notice of lien sale pursuant to RCW 19.150.060, the property, other than personal papers and personal effects, may be sold or disposed of in a reasonable manner.
     (2)(((a))) If the property has a value of three hundred dollars or more, the sale shall be conducted ((in a commercially reasonable manner, and,)) at public auction after having first published a notice of the date, time, and place in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the storage unit is located not less than three days and no more than ten days before the date of the auction. The notice shall contain the location of the storage facility, including the number of the unit the contents of which are to be auctioned, and a description of the contents to be sold. The auction shall be held during daylight hours of a normal business day and shall be held at the storage facility in which the unit containing the contents to be auctioned is located.
     (3) The following procedures are required in any public auction under this section:
     (a) The auction shall be oral;
     (b) The auction shall be held in such a manner that all persons present are given an equal time and opportunity to bid;
     (c) All bidders must be present at the time of auction;
     (d) The open bid process shall be used so that everyone knows the dollar value that must be exceeded.
     (4)(a) After deducting the amount of the lien and costs of sale, the owner shall retain any excess proceeds of the sale on the occupant's behalf. The occupant, or any other person having a court order or other judicial process against the property, may claim the excess proceeds, or a portion thereof sufficient to satisfy the particular claim, at any time within six months of the date of sale.
     (b) If the property has a value of less than three hundred dollars, the property may be disposed of in a commercially reasonable manner.
     (((3))) (5) Personal papers and personal effects that are not reclaimed by the occupant within six months of a sale under subsection (2)(((a))) of this section or other disposition under ((subsection (2)(b) of)) this section may be disposed of in a reasonable manner.
     (((4))) (6) No employee ((or)), owner, auctioneer, or family member or agent of an employee ((or)), owner, or auctioneer may acquire, directly or indirectly, the property sold pursuant to ((subsection (2)(a) of)) this section or disposed of pursuant to ((subsection (2)(b) of)) this section, or personal papers and personal effects disposed of under ((subsection (3) of)) this section.
     (((5))) (7) The owner is entitled to retain any interest earned on the excess proceeds until the excess proceeds are claimed by another person or are turned over to the state as abandoned property pursuant to RCW 63.29.165.
     (((6))) (8) After the sale or other disposition pursuant to this section has been completed, the owner shall provide an accounting of the disposition of the proceeds of the sale or other disposition to the occupant at the occupant's last known address and at the alternative address.