Florida Senate - 2023 SB 790



By Senator Harrell





31-00965A-23 2023790__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to self-storage facilities; amending
3 s. 83.806, F.S.; revising written notice requirements
4 relating to the satisfaction of an owner’s lien;
5 revising publication requirements relating to
6 advertising the sale or other disposition of self
7 storage facilities; revising the required timeframe
8 for such sale or disposition; amending s. 83.808,
9 F.S.; requiring that rental agreements authorize
10 tenants to designate an optional alternate contact for
11 purposes of providing specified notice; specifying
12 that designating an alternate contact does not give
13 the contact interest in contents stored at a self
14 service storage facility or in the self-contained
15 storage unit; providing an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 83.806,
20 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
21 83.806 Enforcement of lien.—An owner’s lien as provided in
22 s. 83.805 may be satisfied as follows:
23 (1) The tenant shall be notified by written notice
24 delivered in person, by e-mail, or by first-class mail with a
25 certificate of mailing to the tenant’s last known address and
26 the last known address of the alternate contact person
27 designated by the tenant under the rental agreement, if any, and
28 conspicuously posted at the self-service storage facility or on
29 the self-contained storage unit. If the owner sends notice of a
30 pending sale of property to the tenant’s and the alternate
31 contact person’s last known e-mail address and does not receive
32 a response, return receipt, or delivery confirmation from the
33 same e-mail address, the owner must send notice of the sale to
34 the tenant and the alternate contact person by first-class mail
35 with a certificate of mailing to the tenant’s and the alternate
36 contact person’s last known address before proceeding with the
37 sale.
38 (4) After the expiration of the time given in the notice,
39 an advertisement of the sale or other disposition shall be
40 published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of
41 general circulation in the area where the self-service storage
42 facility or self-contained storage unit is located or on a
43 public website that customarily conducts or advertises personal
44 property auctions.
45 (a) A lien sale may be conducted on a public website that
46 customarily conducts personal property auctions. The facility or
47 unit owner is not required to hold a license to post property
48 for online sale. Inasmuch As any sale may involve property of
49 more than one tenant, a single advertisement may be used to
50 dispose of property at any one sale.
51 (b) The advertisement shall include:
52 1. A brief and general description of what is believed to
53 constitute the personal property contained in the storage unit,
54 as provided in paragraph (2)(b).
55 2. The address of the self-service storage facility or the
56 address where the self-contained storage unit is located and the
57 name of the tenant.
58 3. The time, place, and manner of the sale or other
59 disposition. The sale or other disposition shall take place at
60 least 10 15 days after the first publication.
61 (c) If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the
62 area where the self-service storage facility or self-contained
63 storage unit is located and the owner does not publish the
64 advertisement on a public website that customarily conducts or
65 advertises personal property auctions, the advertisement shall
66 be posted at least 10 days before the date of the sale or other
67 disposition in at least three conspicuous places in the
68 neighborhood where the self-service storage facility or self
69 contained storage unit is located.
70 Section 2. Subsection (4) is added to section 83.808,
71 Florida Statutes, to read:
72 83.808 Contracts.—
73 (4) A rental agreement must contain a provision that
74 authorizes the tenant to designate an optional alternate contact
75 person. The alternate contact person may be contacted only for
76 purposes of providing notice under s. 83.806(1) or as otherwise
77 authorized by the rental agreement. Designating an alternate
78 contact person does not give such person an interest in the
79 contents stored at the self-service storage facility or in the
80 self-contained storage unit.
81 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.