The enforcement of the owner‘s lien against an occupant who is in default may be done in accordance with either or both of the following procedures:

(1) In the case of short term default, denial of access:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 66-31-105

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Default: means the failure timely to perform any obligation or duty set forth in this chapter and the rental agreement. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Division: means the wildlife resources agency in the case of motorized watercraft and the department of revenue, taxpayer and vehicle services division in the case of all other vehicles. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Last known address: means for notification purposes the street address, post office box, or electronic mail address provided by the occupant in the latest rental agreement or in a subsequent written notice of a change of address provided by the occupant. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Leased space: means the storage space or spaces at the self-service storage facility that are leased or rented to an occupant pursuant to a rental agreement. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Occupant: means a person, or a sublessee, successor, or assign of such person, entitled to the use of leased space at a self-service storage facility under a rental agreement, to the exclusion of others. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Owner: means the owner, operator, lessor, or sublessor of a self-service storage facility, the agent of such person, or any person authorized by such person to manage the facility or to receive rent from an occupant under a rental agreement. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Personal property: means movable property not affixed to land and includes, but is not limited to, goods, wares, merchandise, household items, and vehicles. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Self-service storage facility: means any real property designed and used for the purpose of renting or leasing storage space to occupants who are to have access to such space for the purpose of storing and removing personal property. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Vehicle: means a motor vehicle, a trailer, or a semitrailer as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • Verified mail: means any method of mailing that is offered by the United States postal service and that provides evidence of mailing. See Tennessee Code 66-31-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(A) Upon the failure of an occupant to pay the rent for the storage space or unit when it becomes due, the owner may, without notice, deny the occupant access to the personal property located in the self-service storage facility or self-contained storage unit, and the owner without notice, not less than five (5) days after the date the rent is due, may enter and remove the personal property from the leased space to other suitable storage space pending its sale or other disposition; and
(B) The owner shall notify the occupant of the owner’s intent to enforce the owner’s lien by written notice delivered by hand delivery, by verified mail, or by electronic mail to the occupant’s last known address; or
(2) In the case of long term default, which is a continuous fifteen (15) days, the owner may enforce the owner’s lien in accordance with the following procedures:

(A) The occupant shall be notified in writing;
(B) The notice shall be delivered by hand delivery, by verified mail, or by electronic mail to the occupant’s last known address;
(C) 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 and a statement of the approximate additional expenses which may be incurred between the date of the notice and the date of the sale;
(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 sixty (60) days after default;
(D) 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;
(E) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property must be held at the self-service storage facility, online, or at the nearest suitable place to where the personal property is held or stored;
(F) After expiration of the time stated in the notice and if the personal property has not otherwise been disposed, the owner shall advertise the sale of the personal property in a commercially reasonable manner. The manner of advertisement is deemed commercially reasonable if not less than three (3) potential bidders participate in the sale at the time and place advertised. The advertisement of sale may include, but not be limited to, the publishing one (1) time before the date of the sale of the personal property in a newspaper of general circulation that serves the area where the self-storage facility is located. An advertisement must 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; and
(iii) The time, place, and manner of the sale;
(G) 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;
(H) The owner may buy at any sale of personal property to enforce the owner’s lien;
(I) 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;
(J) In the event of a sale under this section, the owner may satisfy the owner’s lien and the expenses of such sale 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 Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, compiled in chapter 29, part 1 of this title;
(K) If the property upon which the lien is claimed is a vehicle and rent and other charges related to the property remain unpaid or unsatisfied for sixty (60) days after the maturity of the obligation to pay rent, the facility owner may utilize either of the following options:

(i) The facility owner may have the property towed. If a vehicle is towed as authorized in this subdivision (2)(K)(i), the owner shall not be liable for the vehicle or any damages to the vehicle once the tower takes possession of the property; or
(ii) The facility owner shall contact the appropriate division in such manner as the division prescribes for the purposes of determining the existence and identity of any lien holder and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle as shown in the division’s records. If the vehicle is a motor vehicle, then the facility owner may also contact the county clerk for the purposes of determining the existence and identity of any lien holder and the name and address of the owner of the motor vehicle as shown in the county clerk’s records. Within ten (10) days of receipt of the information concerning any lien holder and the owner of the motor vehicle, as shown in the division’s or county clerk’s records, the facility owner shall send a written notice to any lien holder and to the motor vehicle owner, if the motor vehicle owner is not the occupant, by verified mail, stating that:

(a) Such vehicle is being held by the facility owner;
(b) A lien has attached pursuant to this chapter; and
(c) Payment shall be made within thirty (30) days after notification to satisfy the lien. The vehicle owner or lien holder may pay the balance owed and take possession of the vehicle. If the owner or lien holder does not satisfy the lien, the facility owner may sell the vehicle in any manner, including but not limited to, public auction;
(L) The owner’s liability arising from the sale is limited to the net proceeds received from the sale of the personal property;
(M) The owner is not liable for identity theft or other harm resulting from the misuse of information contained in a document or electronic storage media:

(i) That are part of the occupant’s property sold or otherwise disposed; and
(ii) Of which the owner did not have actual knowledge; and
(N) An owner shall not be entitled to any remedies provided by this chapter, including but not limited to, enforcement of a lien against an occupant, if:

(i) The requirements of this section are not satisfied;
(ii) The sale of the personal property located in the leased space is not in conformity with subdivision (2)(F); or
(iii) There is a willful violation of this chapter.
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