HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 283 Self-service Storage Facility Liens
SPONSOR(S): Civil Justice Subcommittee, Borrero
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 456
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Civil Justice Subcommittee 13 Y, 5 N, As CS Mawn Jones
2) Commerce Committee 13 Y, 7 N Wright Hamon
3) Judiciary Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The Self-Storage Facility Act, set out in Part III of Ch. 83, F.S., regulates the relationship between the owner of
a self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit and the facility’s or unit’s tenants. Under the Act, the
facility or unit owner has a lien upon all personal property located at a self-service storage facility or in a self-
contained storage unit, for rent, labor charges, or other charges relating to the personal property and for
expenses necessary for its preservation or reasonably incurred in its sale or other disposition under the Act.
Such lien attaches when the personal property is brought to the self-service storage facility or when the tenant
takes possession of the self-contained storage unit, and the lien’s priority is as provided in s. 83.808, F.S.
To enforce such a lien, a self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit owner may sell the tenant’s
personal property as provided in the Act. However, before any such sale may occur, the facility or unit owner
must give notice of an impending sale to the tenant in person, by e-mail, or by first-class mail with a certificate
of mailing to the tenant’s last known address, and conspicuously post such notice at the self-service storage
facility or on the self-contained storage unit. Such notice must specify that, unless the claim is paid within the
time stated in the notice, the personal property will be advertised for sale or other disposition and will be sold or
otherwise disposed of at a specified time and place. Following the expiration of the time given in the notice, the
facility or unit owner must also:
Advertise the sale in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the facility or unit is located
once a week for two consecutive weeks; or
If there is no such newspaper, post the advertisement at least ten days before the sale in at least three
conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the facility or unit is located.
CS/HB 283 requires that a rental agreement for storage space contain a provision authorizing the tenant to
designate an alternate contact person, which person may be contacted only for purposes of providing the
required notice of sale or as the rental agreement otherwise authorizes. The bill also:
Specifies that the designation of an alternate contact person does not give such person an interest in
the stored contents.
Requires that the notice of sale be given in a specified manner to the alternate contact person.
Requires that a rental agreement contain a warning that stored contents, if advertised for sale, will be
described in the advertisement.
Authorizes the advertisement of sale to be published on a public website that customarily conducts or
advertises personal property auctions in lieu of newspaper publication and specifies how the sale must
be advertised if there is no qualifying newspaper and the facility or unit owner does not publish online.
Requires that, if an advertisement of sale is to be published on a public website, the notice sent to the
tenant must identify the public website on which the advertisement is to be published.
The bill does not appear to have a fiscal impact on state or local governments. The bill provides an effective
date of July 1, 2024.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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DATE: 1/24/2024
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Self-Service Storage Facility Act Definitions
The Self-Storage Facility Act, set out in Part III of Ch. 83, F.S., regulates the relationship between the
owner of a self-service storage facility or a self-contained storage unit and the facility’s or unit’s tenants.
Significantly, the Act allows the owner to seize and sell the personal property within the storage unit if
the tenant does not pay rent and specified conditions are met. Under the Act:
"Last known address" means the street address or post office box address provided by the
tenant in the latest rental agreement or in a subsequent written change-of-address notice
provided by hand delivery, first-class mail, or e-mail;
"Owner" means the owner, operator, lessor, or sublessor of a self-service storage facility or self-
contained storage unit or his or her agent or any other person authorized by him or her to
manage the facility or to receive rent from a tenant under a rental agreement;
"Rental agreement" means any agreement or lease which establishes or modifies terms,
conditions, rules, or any other provisions concerning the use and occupancy of a self-service
storage facility or of a self-contained storage unit;
"Self-contained storage unit" means any unit not less than 200 cubic feet in size, including, but
not limited to, a trailer, box, or other shipping container, which is leased by a tenant primarily for
use as storage space whether the unit is located at a facility owned or operated by the owner or
at another location designated by the tenant;
"Self-service storage facility" means any real property designed and used for the purpose of
renting or leasing individual storage space to tenants who are to have access to such space for
the purpose of storing and removing personal property and where no individual storage space is
used for residential purposes; and
"Tenant" means a person or the person’s sublessee, successor, or assign entitled to the use of
storage space at a self-service storage facility or in a self-contained storage unit, under a rental
agreement, to the exclusion of others.1
Liens Under the Self-Storage Facility Act
A lien is a claim against property that evidences a debt, obligation, or duty. 2 A self-service storage
facility or self-contained storage unit owner has a lien upon all personal property, whether or not owned
by the tenant, located at the self-service storage facility or in a self-contained storage unit for rent, labor
charges, or other charges relating to the property and for expenses necessary for its preservation or
reasonably incurred in its sale or other disposition under the Self-Storage Facility Act.3 Such lien
attaches when the personal property is brought to the storage facility or when the tenant takes
possession of the self-contained storage unit, and the lien’s priority4 is as provided in s. 83.808, F.S.;
however, in the event of default, the owner must give notice to persons holding perfected security
interests 5 in which the tenant is named as the debtor.6
Withholding Access to Personal Property Upon Nonpayment of Rent
1 S. 83.803, F.S.
2 Fla. Jur. 2d Liens § 37:1.
3 S. 83.805, F.S.
4 A lien’s priority determines the order in which the lienholder will be paid after sale of the property to which the lien atta ched. Generally,
earlier-recorded liens take priority over later-recorded liens. State and federal law may also specify a particular lien’s priority. Legal
Information Institute, Debtor and Creditor, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/debtor_and_creditor (last visited Jan. 11, 2024).
5 A security interest arises when, in exchange for a loan, a borrower pledges in a security agreement specified assets owned by the
borrower, which assets the lender may take and sell if the borrower defaults on the loan. Legal Information Institute, Secured
Transactions, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/secured_transactions (last visited Jan. 11, 2024).
6 S. 83.805, F.S.
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If a tenant in a self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit fails to pay the rent for such
storage space when it becomes due, the facility or unit owner may, without notice, after five days from
the date the rent was due, deny the tenant access to the personal property located in the facility or
unit.7 In denying the tenant access to such personal property, the owner may proceed without judicial
process – that is, without obtaining a court order – if this can be done without breach of the peace.8
Lien Enforcement: Notice of Sale or Other Disposition
To satisfy an owner’s lien under the Self-Storage Facility Act, s. 83.806, F.S., specifies that the owner
must notify the tenant by written notice delivered in person, by e-mail, or by first-class mail with a
certificate of mailing to the tenant’s last known address, and such notice must be conspicuously posted
at the self-service storage facility or on the self-contained storage unit. If the facility or unit owner sends
notice of a pending sale of property to the tenant’s last known e-mail address and does not receive a
response, return receipt, or delivery confirmation from the same e-mail address, the owner must send
notice of the sale to the tenant by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing to the tenant’s last known
address before the sale.9
The notice must include:
An itemized statement of the facility or unit owner’s claim, showing the amount due at the time
of the notice and the date when the amount became due;
The same description, or a reasonably similar description, of the personal property as provided
in the rental agreement;
A demand for payment within a specified time of not less than 14 days after the notice’s
delivery;
A conspicuous statement that, unless the claim is paid within the time stated in the notice, the
personal property will be advertised for sale or other disposition and will be sold or otherwise
disposed of at a specified time and place; and
The name, street address, and telephone number of the owner whom the tenant may contact to
respond to the notice.10
The notice is presumed delivered when it is deposited with the United States Postal Service and
properly addressed with postage prepaid.11
Lien Enforcement: Advertisement of Sale or Other Disposition
After the expiration of the time given in the notice of sale, an advertisement of the sale or other
disposition must be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation in the area where the self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit is located.12 A
lien sale may be conducted on a public website that customarily conducts personal property auctions ,
and the facility or unit owner is not required to hold a license to post property for online sale. 13 Should a
sale involve the property of multiple tenants, one advertisement may be used to dispose of the property
at any one sale.14
7 S. 83.8055, F.S.
8 Id.
9 S. 83.806, F.S.
10 Id.
11 Id.
12 Id.
13 Id.
14 Id.
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The advertisement must include:
A brief and general description of what is believed to constitute the personal property contained
in the storage unit;
The address of the self-service storage facility or the address where the self-contained storage
unit is located and the tenant’s name; and
The time, place, and manner of the sale or other disposition, which sale or other disposition
must take place at least 15 days after the first publication.15
However, if there is no newspaper of general circulation in the area where the self-service storage
facility or self-contained storage unit is located, the advertisement must be posted at least ten days
before the date of the sale or other disposition in at least three conspicuous places in the neighborhood
where the self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit is located.16
Lien Enforcement: Sale or Other Disposition
Any sale or other disposition of a tenant’s personal property must conform to the terms of the
notification and must be conducted in a commercially reasonable manner.17 However, before any such
sale or other disposition, the tenant may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and the
reasonable expenses incurred under the Self-Storage Facility Act and thereby redeem the personal
property.18 Upon receipt of such payment, the owner must return the property to the tenant and
thereafter has no liability to any person with respect to such personal property. 19 However, if the tenant
fails to redeem the personal property or satisfy the lien, including reasonable expenses, he or she will
be deemed to have unjustifiably abandoned the self-service storage facility or self-contained storage
unit, and the owner may resume possession of the premises for himself or herself. 20
In the event of a sale, the facility or unit owner may satisfy his or her lien from the sale’s proceeds, if the
owner’s lien has priority over all other liens on the personal property.21 The lien rights of secured
lienholders are automatically transferred to the remaining proceeds of the sale, and the balance, if any,
must be held by the owner for delivery on demand to the tenant. 22 A notice of any balance must be
delivered to the tenant in person or by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing to the tenant’s last
known address.23 If the tenant fails to claim the balance within two years after the sale date, the
proceeds are deemed abandoned, and the facility or unit owner has no further obligation to pay the
balance.24
If the facility or unit owner’s lien does not have priority over all other liens, the sale proceeds must be
held for the benefit of those lienholders with priority over the owner’s lien.25 A notice of the amount of
the sale proceeds must be delivered by the facility or unit owner to the tenant and secured lienholders
in person or by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing to their last known addresses. 26 If the tenant
or the secured lienholders do not claim the sale proceeds within two years after the sale date, the
proceeds are deemed abandoned, and the owner has no further obligation to pay the proceeds.27
15
Id.
16 Id.
17 Id.
18 Id.
19 Id.
20 Id.
21 Id.
22 Id.
23 Id.
24 Id.
25 Id.
26 Id.
27 Id.
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Lien Enforcement: Motor Vehicles and Watercraft
If a lien is claimed on a motor vehicle or a watercraft and rent and other charges related to such
property remain unpaid for 60 days after the maturity of the obligation to pay the rent and other
charges, the facility or unit owner may sell the property under the Self-Storage Facility Act or have the
property towed.28 If a motor vehicle or watercraft is towed, the facility or unit owner is not liable for the
motor vehicle or watercraft or any damages thereto once a wrecker takes possession of such
property.29 However, such wrecker must comply with all notification and sale requirements set out in s.
713.78, F.S., relating to liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles and vessels. 30
Rental Agreements
Section 83.808, F.S., sets out additional provisions that govern rental agreements under the Self-
Service Storage Facility Act. Specifically, a rental agreement must contain a provision disclosing
whether the applicant is a member of the uniformed services as that term is defined in 10 U.S.C. s.
101(a)(5).31 Further, the owner of a self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit may
charge a tenant a reasonable late fee for:
Each period that he or she fails to pay rent due under the rental agreement. The amount of the
late fee and the conditions for imposing such fee must be stated in the rental agreement or in an
addendum to such agreement.32 For purposes of the Act, a late fee of $20, or 20 percent of the
monthly rent, whichever is greater, is reasonable and does not constitute a penalty.33
Any expenses incurred as a result of rent collection or lien enforcement. 34
However, s. 83.809, F.S., clarifies that nothing in the Act may be construed as impairing or affecting the
right of any person to create additional rights, duties, and obligations in a rental agreement, and the
provisions of the Act are in addition to all other rights allowed by law in a creditor-debtor or landlord-
tenant relationship.
Effect of Proposed Changes
Rental Agreements
CS/HB 283 amends s. 83.808, F.S., to require that a rental agreement for storage