How a possessory lien attaches, the default and notice sequence a storage operator must follow, advertising and conducting the sale, applying the proceeds, non-consensual towing and the authority to remove a vehicle, vehicle storage charges, mechanic's and repair liens, and wrongful sale claims.
Statutes authorizing removal of a vehicle from private property without the owner's consent generally require a sign posted in plain view at each entrance, of a stated minimum size with lettering of a stated height, prohibiting unauthorized parking, stating that vehicles will be removed at the owner's expense, and giving telephone numbers. Where the sign does not comply, the tow is unauthorized and statutes commonly impose double charges or other liability.
After a vehicle is stored, notice must be given to the registered and legal owners within a short statutory window, stating where the vehicle is, why it was removed and how to request a hearing. Release is generally required within a stated time of the request, the owner may inspect before accepting, and no waiver of damage claims may be required as a condition. A poststorage hearing determines whether reasonable grounds for the storage existed.
Converting a possessory lien into a transferable title requires an application to the state vehicle agency, which supplies the registered owner and every recorded lienholder from the title record. Notice goes to each of them with a stated opportunity to pay or to oppose. Where no valid opposition is filed, the sale proceeds after publication and the buyer applies for a certificate of title supported by the lien sale documents.
Statutes give a person who performs labor or supplies materials on a vehicle a lien on it for the reasonable value of the work. The lien is possessory: it depends on retaining the vehicle and is generally lost by voluntary surrender, without revival when the vehicle returns. It secures only authorized work, so a shop that exceeds a written estimate or works without authority may hold no lien for the excess.
Before a lien sale the operator must publish an advertisement, typically once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area, with a posting alternative where no such newspaper exists. Statutes increasingly recognize online auction sites, either as a substitute publication or as the sale venue. The sale itself must be conducted in a commercially reasonable manner, which addresses method, publicity and timing rather than price alone.
A lien sale requires a default as the statute and agreement define it, followed by written notice to the occupant at the last known address and to any alternative address supplied, containing prescribed content. The occupant is given a stated period to pay, commonly at least fourteen days from delivery of the notice. Some states add a preliminary notice fixing a termination date, and several permit email delivery only where the tenant consented in writing.
A lien sale conveys personal property, but several categories sit outside the ordinary auction. Titled vehicles and watercraft usually require the vehicle lien and titling route rather than a household goods sale. Firearms require a lawful transfer channel. Personal records, identity documents and medical or financial papers carry privacy and disposal duties that a sale does not discharge and may breach.
Proceeds of a lien sale are applied first to the amount of the lien and the reasonable costs of sale, with any excess retained on the occupant's behalf. The occupant, or a person holding a court order against the property, may claim the surplus within a statutory period, commonly one or two years. After that the funds are paid to the county treasury or are deemed abandoned. Where the operator's lien lacks priority, proceeds are held for the priority lienholders.
Self-storage statutes give the facility operator a lien on personal property in the rented space for rent, labor, late fees and other charges under the rental agreement, and for the expenses of preserving and selling the property. The lien commonly reaches property regardless of who owns it. Attachment is conditional: many statutes require specified contract language and an alternative contact address, and some fix attachment at the termination date stated in a preliminary notice.
Where an operator sells without a valid lien or without following the statutory procedure, the sale is a conversion and the occupant's claim lies against the facility. Statutes commonly protect a good faith purchaser, so the goods are not recovered. Damages are measured by the value of the property converted, frequently constrained by a value limit in the rental agreement, and by the occupant's ability to prove what was stored and what it was worth.
Statutes regulate towing and storage charges by reference to the rates a law enforcement agency would pay under its own contract, or to a rate approved for the operator by a state agency, and treat charges above that as excessive. Operators must file current rates with local law enforcement and post an identical schedule at the storage site. Charges accrue daily, and statutes fix points at which accrual stops, including release, sale, and failure to give required notice.
