How to conduct a lawful lien sale for self storage units in Arizona.
In order to schedule and conduct a lawful lien sale for self storage or boat and RV storage units there is a process which must be followed to the letter.The first step is schedule a lien sale. Some self storage operators may set up their auctions with an auctioneer at the start of the year. So all auction dates may be pre-set. If not the operator must contact the auctioneer to schedule a lien sale. This sale should be scheduled at least 6 to 8 weeks prior to the auction date.After the self storage has set the auction date, the next step is determining the units that are to be included in the sale. Usually the self storage operator will choose units that will be a certain number of days (for us it is 100) past due at the time of the sale. All these units are included in the sale, and will be sold unless the accounts are brought current.Upon determining the potential participants in this auction, it is now necessary to notify them of this impending sale of their property. In the past the self storage operator was required to send notice of the auction both by certified mail and regular mail. Recent changes to Arizona’s lien statutes permit the self storage operator to send these notices by some form of mailing that provides evidence the mail was sent. This change should help in reducing mailing costs and providing better notice as many tenants were unwilling to go to the post office to sign for their letters.Once the tenant has been notified of the impending lien sale, the next step is to cut the lock if it hasn’t been cut before. After the tenant’s lock is removed the storage facility may choose to inventory the contents, some may choose to take pictures of the property to be sold. As there is no required procedure to follow, operators do what they feel comfortable doing in terms of documenting what is being sold.Now once the delinquent tenant has been notified and their lock removed then the storage facility is ready to sell the contents of that unit at auction if the delinquent tenant does not bring their account current prior to the start of the lien sale. The tenant will probably be required to pay the balance in cash or certified funds to avoid the lien sale. The day of the auction, the auctioneer will show up a few minutes before the scheduled start of the sale. All participants in the auction are required to sign in, and then the group of bidders move from unit to unit having a live auction for each unit scheduled. The winning bidders pay in the office and usually will have a day or so to remove the contents of the unit. The property in that unit now legally belongs to the person with the winning bid.A common misconception about the self storage business is that the operator somehow makes more money selling units at auction. In the many years we have been in the business, very few units sold at our auctions have sold for anywhere near what was owed on the unit. The self storage operator does not want to have to chase after the tenant for two months, go through all the hassle of setting up and conducting a lien sale and incur all the added costs associated with the auction, just to get paid. The self storage Phoenix Az owner would much prefer that tenant just make their rental payment on time.
