Walk It Through: The Storage Unit Auction
Missed rent on a unit, a lock on the door, a notice of sale, and the money left over.
A renter misses a month on a storage unit and finds the facility's lock on the door.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One storage unit. A vehicle stored in the unit, a lienholder's claim, and goods of no commercial value are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Commercially reasonableThe standard a storage sale and its advertisement meet. An advertisement is commercially reasonable if at least three independent bidders attend the sale.
- Notice of defaultThe notice a trustee records with the register of deeds, stating the breach and the election to sell, before a trust deed's power of sale can be used. The trustor has one month after it to cure.
- Operator's lienThe lien a self-service storage operator holds on everything in a unit for unpaid rent and charges, which the rental agreement states in bold type.
- Disposable earningsEarnings left after deductions required by law. No more of a week's disposable earnings may be garnished than the least of twenty-five percent, the amount above thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, or fifteen percent for a head of a family.
- HomesteadThe dwelling a person lives in, with its land, exempt from judgment liens and forced sale up to one hundred twenty thousand dollars in value.
- Trust deedA security instrument with a trustee who holds a power of sale. Cured within the time allowed, it is reinstated as if no acceleration had occurred.