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Ohio Lien Law.pdf
Courtesy of:
StorageLaws.net
Ohio Lien
Law
§ 5322.01.
Definitions
As
used in sections 5322.01 to 5322.05 of the Revised Code:
"Self-service
storage facility" does not include any garage used principally for parking motor
vehicles, an establishment licensed pursuant to sections 915.14 to 915.24 of the
Revised Code, or any property of a bank or savings and loan association that
contains vaults, safe deposit boxes, or other receptacles for the uses,
purposes, and benefits of the bank's or savings and loan association's
customers.
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"Owner" means a person that is either the owner of a
self-service storage facility or the lessor of an entire self-service
storage facility and that receives rent from an occupant pursuant to a
rental agreement that the person enters into with the occupant.
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"Occupant" means a person that rents storage space at a
self-service storage facility pursuant to a rental agreement that the person
enters into with the owner.
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"Rental agreement" means any written agreement that is
entered into by the owner and the occupant and that establishes the terms
and conditions of the occupant's use of storage space at a self-service
storage facility.
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"Personal property" means money and every animate or
inanimate tangible thing that is the subject of ownership, except anything
forming part of a parcel of real estate, as defined in section 5701.02 of
the Revised Code, and except anything that is an agricultural commodity, as
defined in division (A) of section 926.01 of the Revised Code.
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"Late fee" means any fee or charge assessed for an
occupant's failure to pay rent when due. "Late fee" does not include
interest on a debt, reasonable expenses incurred in the collection of unpaid
rent, or costs associated with the enforcement of any other remedy provided
by statute or contract.
HISTORY: 138 v H
410. Eff 1-9-81; 150 v H 120, § 1, eff. 5-4-04
§
5322.02. Owner of a self-service storage facility has lien on stored property.
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The owner of a self-service storage facility has a lien
against the occupant on the personal property stored pursuant to a rental
agreement in any storage space at the self-service storage facility, or on
the proceeds of the personal property subject to the defaulting occupant's
rental agreement in the owner's possession, for rent, labor, or other
charges in relation to the personal property that are specified in the
rental agreement and that have become due and for expenses necessary for the
preservation of the personal property or expenses reasonably incurred in the
sale or other disposition of the personal property pursuant to law. The
owner's lien provided for in this section is also effective against the
following persons:
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A person who has an unfiled security interest in the
personal property, except that the owner's lien is not effective against
a person who has a valid security interest in a motor vehicle, whether
or not the security interest in the motor vehicle is filed;
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(2) A person:
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Who has a legal interest in the personal property, a
filed security interest in the personal property, or a valid
security interest in the personal property that is a motor vehicle;
and
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Who consents in writing to the storage of the
personal property. Who consents in writing to the storage of the
personal property.
(B) The owner's
lien created by division (A) of this section attaches as of the date the
personal property is brought to the self-service storage facility. An owner
loses his lien on any personal property that he voluntarily permits to be
removed from the self-service storage facility or unjustifiably refuses to
permit to be removed from the facility.
HISTORY: 138 v H
410. Eff 1-9-81.
§
5322.03. Procedure for enforcement of owner's lien; rights of good faith
purchasers
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:
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All persons [of] whom the owner has actual knowledge
claim[ing] an interest in the personal property, and 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 facility is located or the Ohio
county of the last known address of the occupant, shall be notified in
accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of this section;
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The notice shall be delivered in person or sent by certified
mail to the last known address of each person who is required to be notified
by division (A) of this section;
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The notice shall include:
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The name and last known address of the occupant who
rented the storage space in which the personal property was stored;
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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;
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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.
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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;
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A demand for payment within a specified time not less
than ten days after delivery of the notice;
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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 at a specified time and place and that, if no
person purchases the personal property at the auction, the personal
property may be sold at a private sale or destroyed;
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The 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.
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The sale of the personal property shall conform to the terms
of the notice as provided for in this section;
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(E) The sale of the personal property shall be held at the
self-service storage facility or, if the address of the place was included
in the notice as required by division (C)(7) of this section, at the nearest
suitable place to the self-service storage facility at which the personal
property is stored;
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After the expiration of the time given in the 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. The advertisement shall include:
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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;
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The name and last known address of the occupant who
rented the storage space in which the personal property was stored;
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The address of the self-service storage facility;
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The time, place, and manner of the sale.
The sale shall
take place at least fifteen days after the first publication. If there is no
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the self-service storage
facility is located, the advertisement shall be posted at least ten days before
the date of the sale in not less than six conspicuous places in the neighborhood
where the self-service storage facility is located.
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(1) Before any sale of personal property pursuant to this
section, any person who has a legal interest or a security interest in the
personal property may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and the
reasonable expenses incurred under this section. Any person except the
occupant may, upon payment of the amount necessary to satisfy the lien plus
expenses, enter into a new rental agreement for the storage of the personal
property or, if he presents proof of a legal interest in the personal
property or of a right to take possession of the personal property or a
court order authorizing him to take possession of the personal property,
shall immediately remove the personal property from the self-service storage
facility.
(2)Upon receipt of
the payment from a person other than the occupant, the owner shall enter into a
new rental agreement for the storage of the personal property or, if the person
meets the conditions set forth in division (G)(1) of this section, shall permit
the person to remove the personal property from the self-service storage
facility.
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If the occupant pays the amount necessary to satisfy the
lien and the reasonable expenses incurred under this section, he shall
immediately remove all of his personal property from the self-service
storage facility, unless the owner of the facility agrees to enter into
a new rental agreement for the storage of the property.
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A purchaser in good faith, except an owner or his 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 of any
rights of persons against whom the lien was valid, despite noncompliance by
the owner with the requirements of this section;
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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.
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The owner may satisfy his lien from the proceeds of any sale
held pursuant to this section, but shall mail the balance, if any, by
certified mail to the occupant at his last known address. If the balance is
returned to the owner after the owner mailed the balance by certified mail
to the occupant or if the 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.
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An owner may buy at any public sale held pursuant to this
section.
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The rights provided by this section shall be in addition to
all other rights allowed by law to a creditor against his debtor.
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(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 his lien.
(2) The owner is
liable for damages caused by the failure to comply with the requirements for
sale under this section and is liable for conversion for willful violation of
the requirements for sale under this section.
HISTORY: 138 v H
410. Eff 1-9-81.
§ 5322.04.
Residential use prohibited.
No
occupant shall use a self-service storage facility for residential purposes.
HISTORY: 138 v H
410. Eff 1-9-81
§
5322.05. Late fee for failure to pay rent when due.
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Subject to division (B) of this section, a reasonable late
fee may be imposed and collected by an owner for each service period that an
occupant does not pay rent when due under a rental agreement, provided that
the due date for the rental payment is not earlier than the day before the
first day of the service period to which the rental payment applies.
However, no late fee shall be imposed or collected if the occupant makes a
rental payment in full by the third day after the due date under the rental
agreement.
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No late fee may be collected pursuant to division (A) of
this section unless the amount of that fee and the conditions for imposing
that fee are stated in the rental agreement or an addendum to that
agreement.
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For purposes of division (A) of this section, a late fee of
twenty dollars for each late rental payment, or twenty per cent of the
amount of each late rental payment, whichever is greater, is deemed
reasonable and does not constitute a penalty. However, the contract may
provide for a late fee in a greater amount if that amount is reasonable. The
owner has the burden of proof that the late fee in the greater amount is
reasonable.
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Any reasonable expense incurred in rent collection or lien
enforcement by an owner may be charged to the occupant in addition to the
late fees permitted by this section.
HISTORY: 150 v H
120, § 1, eff. 5-4-04.
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