38-8-3 - Enforcement of lien -- Notice requirements -- Sale procedure and effect.
38-8-3. Enforcement of lien -- Notice requirements -- Sale procedure and effect.
A claim of an owner which has become due against an occupant and which is secured bythe owner's lien may be satisfied as follows:
(1) No enforcement action may be taken by the owner until the occupant has been indefault continuously for a period of 30 days.
(2) After the occupant has been in default continuously for a period of 30 days, the ownermay begin enforcement action if the occupant has been given notice in writing. The notice shallbe delivered in person or sent by certified mail to the last known address of the occupant, and acopy of the notice shall, at the same time, be sent to the sheriff of the county where theself-service storage facility is located. Any lienholder with an interest in the property to be soldor otherwise disposed of, of whom the owner has knowledge either through the disclosureprovision on the rental agreement or through the existence of a validly filed and perfected UCC-1financing statement with the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, or through otherwritten notification, shall be included in the notice process as set forth in this section.
(3) This notice shall include:
(a) an itemized statement of the owner's claim showing the sum due at the time of thenotice and the date when the sum became due;
(b) a brief and general description of the personal property subject to the lien, whichdescription shall be reasonably adequate to permit the person notified to identify the property;except that any container including, but not limited to, a trunk, valise, or box that is locked,fastened, sealed, or tied in a manner which deters immediate access to its contents may bedescribed as such without describing its contents;
(c) a notification of denial of access to the personal property, if such denial is permittedunder the terms of the rental agreement, which notification shall provide the name, street address,and telephone number of the owner or his designated agent whom the occupant may contact torespond to the notification;
(d) a demand for payment within a specified time not less than 15 days after delivery ofthe notice; and
(e) a conspicuous statement that, unless the claim is paid within the time stated in thenotice, the personal property will be advertised for sale or other disposition and will be sold orotherwise disposed of at a specified time and place.
(4) Any notice made under this section shall be presumed delivered when it is depositedwith the United States postal service and properly addressed with postage prepaid.
(5) (a) After the expiration of the time given in the notice, an advertisement of the sale orother disposition shall be published:
(i) (A) if there is a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the self-servicestorage facility is located, once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of generalcirculation in that county; or
(B) if there is not a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the self-servicestorage facility is located, by posting the advertisement of sale or other disposition in not lessthan six conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the self-service storage facility is located;and
(ii) in accordance with Section 45-1-101 for two weeks.
(b) The advertisement described in Subsection (5)(a) shall include:
(i) a brief and general description of the personal property reasonably adequate to permit
its identification as provided for in Subsection (3)(b); the address of the self-service storagefacility and the number, if any, of the space where the personal property is located; and the nameof the occupant and his last known address; and
(ii) the time, place, and manner of the sale or other disposition, which sale or otherdisposition shall take place not sooner than 15 days after the first publication.
(6) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property shall conform to the terms ofthe notice provided for in this section.
(7) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property shall be held at the self-servicestorage facility or at the nearest suitable place to where the personal property is held or stored.
(8) Before any sale or other disposition of personal property under this section, theoccupant may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and the reasonable expenses incurredunder this section and thereby redeem the personal property; upon receipt of this payment, theowner shall return the personal property, and thereafter the owner shall have no liability to anyperson with respect to that personal property.
(9) A purchaser in good faith of the personal property sold to satisfy a lien as providedfor in this chapter takes the property free of any rights of persons against whom the lien was validand free of any rights of a secured creditor, despite noncompliance by the owner with therequirements of this section.
(10) In the event of a sale under this section, the owner may satisfy his lien for theproceeds of the sale, subject to the rights of any prior lienholder; the lien rights of the priorlienholder are automatically transferred to the proceeds of the sale; if the sale is made in goodfaith and is conducted in a reasonable manner, the owner shall not be subject to any surcharge fora deficiency in the amount of a prior secured lien, but shall hold the balance, if any, for deliveryto the occupant, lienholder, or other person in interest; if the occupant, lienholder, or other personin interest does not claim the balance of the proceeds within one year of the date of sale, it shallbecome the property of the Utah state treasurer as unclaimed property with no further claimagainst the owner.
(11) If the requirements of this chapter are not satisfied, if the sale of the personalproperty is not in conformity with the notice of sale, or if there is a willful violation of thischapter, nothing in this section affects the rights and liabilities of the owner, occupant, or anyother person.
Amended by Chapter 5, 2009 Special Session 1