66-31-105 - Enforcement of lien.
66-31-105. Enforcement of lien.
The enforcement of the owner's lien against an occupant who is in default shall be in accordance with the following:
(1) No enforcement action shall be taken by the owner until the occupant has been in default continuously for a period of thirty (30) days;
(2) After the occupant has been in default continuously for a period of thirty (30) days, the owner shall have the right to enforce the owner's lien in accordance with the following:
(A) The owner shall have the right to deny the occupant access to the leased space and the owner may enter and/or remove the personal property from the leased space to other suitable storage space pending its sale or other disposition;
(B) The occupant shall be notified in writing;
(C) The notice shall be delivered in person or sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the occupant;
(D) The notice shall include:
(i) 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;
(ii) A demand for payment of the sum due within a specified time not less than thirty (30) days after the date of the notice;
(iii) A statement that the contents of the occupant's leased space are subject to the owner's lien;
(iv) If the owner elects to deny the occupant access to the leased space or elects to enter and/or remove the occupant's personal property from the leased space to other suitable storage space, a statement so advising the occupant shall be included in the notice;
(v) The name, street address and telephone number of the owner or designated agent whom the occupant may contact to respond to the notice; and
(vi) A conspicuous statement that unless the claim is paid within the time stated, the personal property will be advertised for sale or will be otherwise disposed of at a specified time and place, not sooner than ninety (90) days after default;
(E) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property shall conform to the terms of the notification as provided for in this section. If the personal property is advertised for sale and the sale is not consummated, the owner shall give written notice to the occupant of other disposition of the personal property;
(F) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property shall be held at the self-service storage facility or at the nearest suitable place to where the personal property is held or stored;
(G) After the expiration of the time stated in the notice and if the personal property has not otherwise been disposed of, the owner shall cause an advertisement of sale to be published two (2) times preceding the date of sale of the personal property in a newspaper of general circulation which serves the area where the self-service storage facility is located. The advertisement shall include:
(i) A statement that the contents of the occupant's leased space shall be sold to satisfy the owner's lien;
(ii) The address of the self-service storage facility and the number or other description, if any, of the space where the personal property is located and the name of the occupant;
(iii) The time, place and manner of sale. The sale shall take place not sooner than ten (10) days after the first publication. If there is no newspaper of general circulation where the self-service storage facility is located, the owner shall post written advertisements containing all of the required information at least ten (10) days before the date of the sale in not less than six (6) conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the self-service storage facility is located, and at least one (1) notice shall be placed at the courthouse of the county where the facility is located, in a conspicuous place;
(H) Before any sale or other disposition of personal property pursuant to this section, the occupant may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the owner's lien and the reasonable expenses incurred under this section and thereby redeem the personal property. Upon the payment and satisfaction of the amount necessary to satisfy the lien, the owner shall return the personal property and thereafter the owner shall have no liability to any person with respect to such personal property;
(I) The owner may buy at any sale of personal property to enforce the owner's lien;
(J) A purchaser in good faith of the personal property sold to satisfy the owner's lien 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; and
(K) In the event of a sale under this section, the owner may satisfy the owner's lien from the proceeds of the sale but shall hold the balance, if any, for delivery on demand to the occupant. If the occupant does not claim the balance of the proceeds within one (1) year of the date of the sale, such balance shall be deemed to be abandoned, and the owner shall pay such balance to the state treasurer who shall receive, hold and dispose of same in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, compiled in chapter 29 of this title.
[Acts 1980, ch. 717, § 5; T.C.A., § 64-3105.]