Modify the law governing self-service storage facilities

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
S. B. No. 283

2025-2026

Senator Schaffer

To
amend section 5322.03 and to enact section 5322.07 of the Revised
Code
to
modify the law governing self-service storage facilities.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 5322.03 be amended and section 5322.07 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
5322.03.
An
owner's lien created by division (A) of section 5322.02 of the
Revised Code for a claim that has become due may be enforced only as
follows:

(A)
The following persons shall be notified in accordance with divisions
(B) and (C) of this section:

(1)
All persons whom the owner has actual knowledge of and who claim an
interest in the personal property;

(2)
All persons holding liens on any motor vehicle or watercraft amongst
the property;

(3)
All persons who have filed security agreements in the name of the
occupant evidencing a security interest in the personal property with
either the secretary of state or the county recorder of the county in
which the self-service storage facility is located or the Ohio county
of the last known address of the occupant.

(B)(1)
Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(2) of this section, the
notice shall be delivered in person, sent by certified mail or sent
by first-class mail or private delivery service with a certificate or
verification of mailing to the last known address of each person who
is required to be notified by division (A) of this section;

(2)(a)
The notice may be sent by electronic mail to the occupant only if
both of the following apply:

(i)
The occupant agreed to receive the notice via electronic mail and
provided an electronic mail address to the owner in the original
agreement or in a subsequent amendment to the agreement.

(ii)
The owner sends the notice via electronic mail in such a way as to
establish, with a response or return receipt, that the message was
delivered to the occupant's electronic mail address.

(b)
If it cannot be established in accordance with division (B)(2)(a) of
this section that the notice was delivered, the owner shall
make
a reasonable effort to find the occupant's address or electronic mail
address in order to send notice.

(c)
If it cannot be established in accordance with division (B)(2)(a) or
(b) of this section that the notice was delivered, the owner shall

use
another method of delivery authorized by division (B)(1) of this
section.

(C)
The notice shall include all of the following:

(1)
The name and last known address of the occupant who rented the
storage space in which the personal property was stored;

(2)
An itemized statement of the owner's claim showing the sum due at the
time of the notice and the date when the sum became due;

(3)
A brief and general description of the personal property subject to
the lien. The description shall be reasonably adequate to permit the
person notified to identify it except that any 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 and that has not been opened by the owner prior to the date
on which the notice is given may be described as such without
describing its contents.

(4)
A notice of denial of access to the personal property, if a denial of
access is permitted under the terms of the rental agreement, which
notice provides the name, street address, and telephone number of the
person whom the person notified may contact to pay the claim and to
either obtain the personal property or enter into a rental agreement
for the storage of the personal property;

(5)
A demand for payment within a specified time not less than
ten

ninety

days
after delivery of the notice;

(6)
A conspicuous statement that unless the claim is paid within that
time the personal property will be advertised for sale and will be
sold by auction and that, if no person purchases the personal
property at the auction, the personal property may be sold at a
private sale or destroyed;

(7)
The street or internet address of the place at which the sale will be
held, if the sale will be held at a place other than the self-service
storage facility in which the personal property was stored.

(D)(1)
Any notice given pursuant to this section that is sent by first-class
mail or private delivery service with a certificate or verification
of mailing shall be deemed delivered when it is deposited with the
United States postal service or private delivery service and properly
addressed with proper postage prepaid.

(2)
Any notice given pursuant to this section that is sent by electronic
mail to an occupant shall be deemed delivered when the owner receives
a response or return receipt.

(E)
The sale of the personal property shall conform to the terms of the
notice as provided for in this section.

(F)
The sale of the personal property may be held at the self-service
storage facility or, if the street or internet address of the place
was included in the notice as required by division (C)(7) of this
section, on the internet or at the nearest suitable place to the
self-service storage facility at which the personal property is
stored.

(G)
After the expiration of the time given in the notice

or, if the notice is not delivered, ninety days after the last
attempt to give notice
,
an advertisement of the sale shall be published once a week for two
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
in which the self-service storage facility is located or any other
commercially reasonable manner. The manner of advertisement shall be
deemed commercially reasonable if at least three independent bidders
register for, view, or attend the sale. The advertisement shall
include all of the following:

(1)
A brief and general description of the personal property as required
by division (C)(3) of this section, except that the description shall
describe the contents of any trunk, valise, or box that is locked,
fastened, sealed, or tied in a manner that deters immediate access to
its contents, if the trunk, valise, or box is opened by the owner
prior to the date on which the advertisement of sale is published;

(2)
The name and last known address of the occupant who rented the
storage space in which the personal property was stored;

(3)
The street address of the self-service storage facility;

(4)
The time, place, and manner of the sale.

The
sale shall take place at least fifteen days after the first
publication.

(H)(1)
Any person who has a security interest in, or who holds a lien
against, a motor vehicle or watercraft may pay the amount necessary
to satisfy the lien created by division (A) of section 5322.02 of the
Revised Code and the reasonable expenses incurred under this section.
That person, upon payment of the amount necessary to satisfy the lien
plus expenses, may enter into a new rental agreement for the storage
of the motor vehicle or watercraft. Any person who presents proof of
a security interest in or lien on a motor vehicle or watercraft or a
court order authorizing the person to take possession of a motor
vehicle or watercraft may immediately remove the motor vehicle or
watercraft from the self-service storage facility without satisfying
the lien or expenses of the owner.

(2)
Before any sale of personal property other than a motor vehicle or
watercraft pursuant to this section, any person who has a legal
interest or a security interest in, or who holds a lien against, any
personal property other than a motor vehicle or watercraft may pay
the amount necessary to satisfy the lien created by division (A) of
section 5322.02 of the Revised Code and the reasonable expenses
incurred under this section and remove the personal property in which
the person has the interest or against which the person holds the
lien. After removal of all the personal property, including any motor
vehicle or watercraft, from the storage space of the self-service
storage facility by any means under this section, the owner may enter
into a rental agreement with a new occupant for the storage space,
and the owner has no obligation to the prior occupant of that storage
space.

(3)
Upon receipt of the payment from a person other than the occupant,
the owner may, at the owner's sole discretion, enter into a new
rental agreement for the storage of the personal property or, if the
person meets the conditions set forth in division (H)(2) of this
section, shall permit the person to remove the personal property from
the self-service storage facility.

(4)
If the occupant pays the amount necessary to satisfy the lien created
by division (A) of section 5322.02 of the Revised Code and the
reasonable expenses incurred under this section, the occupant shall
immediately remove all of the occupant's personal property from the
self-service storage facility, unless the owner of the self-service
storage facility agrees to enter into a new rental agreement for the
storage of the property.

(I)(1)
If property on which there is a lien under division (A) of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code is not sold at auction, but is claimed
under division (H) of this section and the owner's lien is satisfied,
then all legal or security interest in, or any other liens held
against, the property shall remain intact.

(2)
A purchaser at auction in good faith, except an owner or an owner's
agent, of the personal property sold to satisfy an owner's lien
created by division (A) of section 5322.02 of the Revised Code takes
the property free and clear of any rights of persons against whom the
lien was valid, or any persons who had an interest in, or who held,
any other lien against the property, despite noncompliance by the
owner with the requirements of this section.

(J)
The owner may examine any personal property to be sold pursuant to
this section. The examination may include, but is not limited to, the
opening of any trunk, valise, box, or other container that is locked,
fastened, sealed, tied, or otherwise closed in a manner that deters
immediate access to its contents.

(K)(1)
If the property upon which division (A) of section 5322.02 of the
Revised Code creates a lien is a motor vehicle, trailer, or a
watercraft, the owner may, at the owner's sole discretion, have the
motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft towed from the premises if any
of the following circumstances applies:

(a)
The notice was delivered or sent pursuant to division (B) of this
section to all persons holding a lien on the motor vehicle, trailer,
or watercraft, and thirty days have elapsed since the notice was
delivered or sent.

(b)
Rent and other charges related to the property remain unpaid or
unsatisfied by the occupant for sixty days, and no lien holders have
been identified.

(c)
The owner is planning to hold or has held a sale for the personal
property that was stored in the self-service storage space with that
motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft, in which case the motor
vehicle, trailer, or watercraft may, at the owner's sole discretion,
be towed prior to or following the sale.

(2)
The owner shall not be liable for the motor vehicle, trailer, or
watercraft or any damages to the motor vehicle, trailer, or
watercraft once the towing service or storage facility takes
possession of the property. The notice delivered or sent pursuant to
division (B) of this section to all persons holding a lien on the
motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft shall include the name of the
towing service or storage facility. The name and the street address
of the towing service or storage facility shall also be made
available to the occupant or any lien holder upon the presentation of
a document of title or another document that confirms an interest in
the motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft.

As
used in this division, "towing service or storage facility"
means any for-hire motor carrier that removes a motor vehicle,
trailer, or watercraft from a self-service storage facility pursuant
to this division and any place to which that for-hire motor carrier
delivers the motor vehicle, trailer, or watercraft.

(L)
The owner may satisfy the owner's lien from the proceeds of any sale
held pursuant to this section, but shall mail the balance, if any, by
certified mail, or by first class mail or private delivery service
with a certificate or verification of mailing, to the occupant at the
occupant's last known mailing address. If the balance is returned to
the owner after the owner mailed the balance by certified mail, first
class mail, or private delivery service to the occupant or if the
mailing address of the occupant is not known, the owner shall hold
the balance for two years after the date of the sale for delivery on
demand to the occupant or to any other person who would have been
entitled to possession of the personal property. After the expiration
of the two-year period, the balance shall become unclaimed funds, as
defined in division (B) of section 169.01 of the Revised Code, and
shall be disposed of pursuant to Chapter 169. of the Revised Code.

(M)
An owner may buy at any public sale held pursuant to this section.

(N)
The rights provided by this section shall be in addition to all other
rights allowed by law to a creditor against a debtor.

(O)(1)
If the owner complies with the requirements for sale under this
section, the owner's liability to persons who have an interest in the
personal property sold is limited to the balance of the proceeds of
the sale after the owner has satisfied the owner's lien.

(2)
The owner is liable for damages

in the amount of the fair market value of the disposed personal
property

caused by the failure to comply with the requirements for sale under
this section and is liable for conversion for
willful

negligent

violation
of the requirements for sale under this section.

(P)
If no person purchases the personal property at the auction and if
the owner has complied with this section, the owner may do any of the
following:

(1)
Advertise and sell the personal property pursuant to divisions (F) to
(O) of this section;

(2)
Sell the personal property at a private sale;

(3)
Dispose of the personal property in any manner considered appropriate
by the owner including, but not limited to, destroying the personal
property.

Sec.
5322.07.
An
owner shall provide notice to all occupants of any change of
ownership in a self-service storage facility.

Section
2.
That
existing section 5322.03 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.