(a) The operator of a self-service storage facility and the heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns of the operator shall have a lien upon all of the personal property of an occupant located at the self-service storage facility for delinquent rent, late fees, labor, or other charges incurred pursuant to a rental agreement and for expenses incurred for preservation, sale, or disposition of the personal property. The lien provided for in this section is superior to any other lien or security interest, except for a tax lien as otherwise provided by law.
Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
Personal property: All property that is not real property.
personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidence of debt, deeds and conveyances. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(b) The lien described in subsection (a) attaches on the date on which personal property is placed in a leased space.(c) The rental agreement shall contain a statement, in bold type, advising the occupant of all of the following:
(1) The existence of the lien.(2) That personal property stored in the leased space may be sold to satisfy the lien if the occupant is in default.(3) That the occupant must disclose any lienholders with an interest in property that is stored or will be stored in the leased space.(d) If the rental agreement specifies a limit on the value of personal property that the occupant may store in the leased space, the limit shall be deemed to be the maximum value of the personal property in the leased space of the occupant.(e) The rental agreement may provide for a reasonable late fee when the occupant is in default. A monthly late fee of twenty dollars ($20) or 20 percent of the monthly rental amount, whichever is greater, shall be considered reasonable and is not a penalty.
