NOTES

Legislative

The North Carolina Self Storage Association was successful in the efforts to simplify the process and remove antiquated practices from the NC Lien Law.  The new law became effective Oct. 1, 2009.

Noted changes include:

• Must conduct a UCC search by visiting the Secretary of State's Web site and verifying that no other liens have been filed against the stored property.
  
  
• If the property is a motor vehicle you may have the vehicle towed after 60 days of non-payment.
  
  
• We changed the timing of when mailings should occur. Previously, registered or certified mail should have been mailed after the 15 days following the obligation to pay rent. That mailing is now sent first class mail and considered delivered when it is deposited in the U.S. Postal Service. The certified or registered letter now needs to be sent after the 25th day but not less than 20 days prior to the sale. Again this letter is considered delivered when it is deposited with the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  
• No longer need to post notice of sale at the courthouse.
  
  
• Only need to publish notice of sale once in newspaper (instead of twice) with same stipulations as before.
  
  
• Partial payment does not stop or delay the owner's rights to sell occupants property.

The NCSSA has worked very hard on your behalf this year and these are some of the changes that we were effective in making. Please feel free to call or email the NCSSA with any questions or concerns about these changes and we will make every effort to answer those questions. You may also visit the North Carolina General Assembly's Web site (www.ncleg.net) to get more information on the Lien Law (Senate Bill 448).

If you are not a member of the NCSSA, we urge you to join. With today’s challenging economy, this is the ideal opportunity for you to join the association that represents self storage professionals in North Carolina. The NCSSA is an association whose primary goal is to provide leadership and open lines of communication on issues that affect the self storage industry in our state. In today's marketplace, it is essential for operators to stay informed of the many changes and laws affecting, or that have the chance to affect, our business industry. For information on joining, contact the NCSSA office at 919.459.2074 or via email at info@ncssaonline.org.