Public Act 098-1106
 
SB2952 EnrolledLRB098 16773 HEP 51842 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Self-Service Storage Facility Act is amended
by changing Sections 2 and 4 as follows:
 
    (770 ILCS 95/2)  (from Ch. 114, par. 802)
    Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
context clearly requires otherwise:
    (A) "Self-service storage facility" means any real
property designed and used for the purpose of renting or
leasing individual storage space to occupants who are to have
access to such for the purpose of storing and removing personal
property. A self-service storage facility is not a warehouse
for purposes of Article 7 of the Uniform Commercial Code. If an
owner issues any warehouse receipt, bill of lading, or other
document of title for the personal property stored, the
provisions of this Act do not apply.
    (B) "Owner" means the owner, operator, lessor, or sublessor
of a self-service storage facility, his agent, or any other
person authorized by him to manage the facility, or to receive
rent from an occupant under a rental agreement.
    (C) "Occupant" means a person, his sublessee, successor, or
assign, entitled to the use of the storage space at a
self-service storage facility under a rental agreement, to the
exclusion of others.
    (D) "Rental agreement" means any agreement or lease,
written or oral, that establishes or modifies the terms,
conditions, rules or any other provisions concerning the use
and occupancy of a self-service storage facility.
    (E) "Personal property" means movable property not affixed
to land, and includes, but is not limited to goods,
merchandise, motor vehicles, watercraft, and household items.
    (F) "Last known address" means that mailing address or
electronic mail address provided by the occupant in the latest
rental agreement, or the mailing address or electronic mail
address provided by the occupant in a subsequent written notice
of a change of address.
    (G) "Late fee" means a 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.
    (H) "Verified mail" means any method of mailing that is
offered by the United States Postal Service or private delivery
service that provides evidence of mailing.
    (I) "Electronic mail" means the transmission of
information or a communication by the use of a computer or
other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique
address and that is received by that person.
(Source: P.A. 97-599, eff. 8-26-11.)
 
    (770 ILCS 95/4)  (from Ch. 114, par. 804)
    Sec. 4. Enforcement of lien. An owner's lien as provided
for in Section 3 of this Act for a claim which has become due
may be satisfied as follows:
    (A) The occupant shall be notified;
    (B) The notice shall be delivered:
        (1) in person; or
        (2) by verified certified mail or by electronic mail
    first-class mail with a certificate of mailing to the last
    known address of the occupant;
    (C) The notice shall include:
        (1) 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;
        (2) The name of the facility, address, telephone
    number, date, time, location, and manner of the lien sale,
    and the occupant's name and unit number;
        (3) A notice of denial of access to the personal
    property, if such denial is permitted under the terms of
    the rental agreement, which provides the name, street
    address, and telephone number of the owner, or his
    designated agent, whom the occupant may contact to respond
    to this notice;
        (3.5) Except as otherwise provided by a rental
    agreement and until a lien sale, the exclusive care,
    custody, and control of all personal property stored in the
    leased self-service storage space remains vested in the
    occupant. No bailment or higher level of liability is
    created if the owner over-locks the occupant's lock,
    thereby denying the occupant access to the storage space.
    Rent and other charges related to the lien continue to
    accrue during the period of time when access is denied
    because of non-payment;
        (4) A demand for payment within a specified time not
    less than 14 days after delivery of the notice;
        (5) A conspicuous statement that unless the claim is
    paid within the time stated in the notice, the personal
    property will be advertised for sale or other disposition,
    and will be sold or otherwise disposed of at a specified
    time and place.
    (D) Any notice made pursuant to this Section shall be
presumed delivered when it is deposited with the United States
Postal Service, and properly addressed with postage prepaid or
sent by electronic mail and the owner receives a receipt of
delivery to the occupant's last known address, except if the
owner does not receive a receipt of delivery for the notice
sent by electronic mail, the notice is presumed delivered when
it is sent to the occupant by verified mail to the occupant's
last known mailing address;
    (E) After the expiration of the time given in the notice,
an advertisement of the sale or other disposition shall be
published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper
of general circulation where the self-service storage facility
is located. The advertisement shall include:
        (1) The name of the facility, address, telephone
    number, date, time, location, and manner of lien sale and
    the occupant's name and unit number.
        (2) (Blank).
        (3) The sale or other disposition shall take place not
    sooner than 15 days after the first publication. If there
    is no newspaper of general circulation where the
    self-service storage facility is located, the
    advertisement shall be posted at least 10 days before the
    date of the sale or other disposition in not less than 6
    conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the
    self-service storage facility is located.
    (F) Any sale or other disposition of the personal property
shall conform to the terms of the notification as provided for
in this Section;
    (G) 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. A sale under this Section shall be deemed to be held
at the self-service storage facility where the personal
property is stored if the sale is held on a publicly accessible
online website;
    (G-5) If the property upon which the lien is claimed is a
motor vehicle or watercraft and rent or other charges related
to the property remain unpaid or unsatisfied for 60 days, the
owner may have the property towed from the self-service storage
facility. If a motor vehicle or watercraft is towed, the owner
shall not be liable for any damage to the motor vehicle or
watercraft, once the tower takes possession of the property.
After the motor vehicle or watercraft is towed, the owner may
pursue other collection options against the delinquent
occupant for any outstanding debt. If the owner chooses to sell
a motor vehicle, aircraft, mobile home, moped, motorcycle,
snowmobile, trailer, or watercraft, the owner shall contact the
Secretary of State and any other governmental agency as
reasonably necessary to determine the name and address of the
title holder or lienholder of the item, and the owner shall
notify every identified title holder or lienholder of the time
and place of the proposed sale. The owner is required to notify
the holder of a security interest only if the security interest
is filed under the name of the person signing the rental
agreement or an occupant. An owner who fails to make the lien
searches required by this Section is liable only to valid
lienholders injured by that failure as provided in Section 3;
    (H) Before any sale or other disposition of personal
property pursuant to this Section, the occupant may pay the
amount necessary to satisfy the lien, and the reasonable
expenses incurred under this Section, and thereby redeem the
personal property. Upon receipt of such payment, 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) A purchaser in good faith of the personal property sold
to satisfy a lien, as provided for in Section 3 of this Act,
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 his 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 year of the date of sale, it shall become
the property of the owner without further recourse by the
occupant.
    (K) The lien on any personal property created by this Act
shall be terminated as to any such personal property which is
sold or otherwise disposed of pursuant to this Act and any such
personal property which is removed from the self-service
storage facility.
    (L) If 3 or more bidders who are unrelated to the owner are
in attendance at a sale held under this Section, the sale and
its proceeds are deemed to be commercially reasonable.
(Source: P.A. 97-599, eff. 8-26-11.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2015