Yesterday Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed Assembly Bill 707 (AB707), which improves the state’s self-storage lien law. The bill was authored by Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, and passed both houses unanimously.
The new legislation provides for a value limitation on goods in storage and protects self-storage facilities from non-tenant litigation. It also improves the notification procedures involved in the lien-sale process. In addition, the new bill:
Includes language on portable on-demand storage units (PODS)
Permits facility owners to remove abandoned property valued at less than $100 in a reasonable manner
Allows the agreed-upon maximum value of the property in the unit to be considered the value of the property inside.
Seeks to decrease the risk of theft by removing a requirement that a unit number be listed in advertisements for lien sales
A change to the law that would have given operators a choice between newspaper or Internet-based lien notices was removed before the Senate vote after state publishers objected.
Lisa Barth-Chiappetta, owner of Barth Storage in Kenosha, Wis., and president of the Wisconsin Self Storage Association, worked in cooperation with the national Self Storage Association to promote the bill improvements and ensure passage through the legislature.
In the 1980s, Barca collaborated with Barth-Chiappetta’s mother, Kathy Barth, and the late Sen. Joseph Andrea to develop the state’s initial self-storage laws, according to an article in the Kenosha News.
To read details of the law, visit http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us and search for “AB707.”
Source: Kenosha News, Self Storage Update
Related Articles:
Wisconsin Self-Storage Lien-Sale Bill Passes House, Meets Little Opposition
Bill Improving Self-Storage Lien Law Makes Progress in Wisconsin
Online Lien-Sale Notifications: Whose Onus Is It?
Lien-Sale Notification: Debate About Online: Self-Storage Talk