Public Act 097-0599
 
SB1394 EnrolledLRB097 05496 AJO 45556 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 and by adding Sections 7.5 and
7.10 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 address provided by the
occupant in the latest rental agreement, or the 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.
(Source: P.A. 83-800.)
 
    (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) sent by certified mail or by 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; A brief and
    general description of the personal property subject to the
    lien. The description shall be reasonably adequate to
    permit the person notified to identify it, except that any
    container including, but not limited to, a trunk, valise,
    or box that is locked, fastened, sealed, or tied in a
    manner which deters immediate access to its contents may be
    described as such without describing its contents;
    (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;
    (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. A brief and general
description of the personal property reasonably adequate to
permit its identification as provided for in division (C)(2) of
this Section;
    (2) (Blank). The address of the self-service storage
facility and the number, if any, of the space where the
personal property is located and the name of the occupant;
    (3) The time, place, and manner of the sale or other
disposition. 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;
    (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 two years 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. 83-800.)
 
    (770 ILCS 95/7.5 new)
    Sec. 7.5. Limitation of value. If the rental agreement
contains a limit on the value of property that may be stored in
the occupant's space, this limit is deemed to be the maximum
value of the stored property, provided that this limit
provision must be printed in bold type or underlined in the
rental agreement in order to be enforceable. In addition to the
remedies otherwise provided by law, only the occupant listed on
the last known rental agreement injured by a violation of this
Act may bring a civil action to recover damages.
 
    (770 ILCS 95/7.10 new)
    Sec. 7.10. Late fees.
    (a) A reasonable late fee may be imposed and collected by
an owner for each service period that an occupant does not pay
rent when due under a rental agreement, provided that the due
date for the rental payment is not earlier than the day before
the first day of the service period to which the rental payment
applies. No late payment fee shall be assessed unless the
rental fee remains unpaid for at least 5 days after the date
specified in the rental agreement for payment of the rental
fee.
    (b) No late fee may be collected pursuant to this Section
unless the amount of that fee and the conditions for imposing
that fee are stated in the rental agreement or in an addendum
to that agreement.
    (c) For purposes of this Section, a late fee of $20 or 20%
of the rental fee for each month an occupant does not pay rent,
whichever is greater, is deemed reasonable and does not
constitute a penalty.
    (d) Any reasonable expense incurred as a result of rent
collection or lien enforcement by an owner may be charged to
the occupant in addition to the late fees permitted by this
Section. If any such expenses are charged, they shall be
identified on an itemized list that is available to the
occupant.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/26/2011