Are You Complying with Lien Law?

September 7th, 2007

Is your self-storage facility complying with lien laws?

Vin A. Fichter, a nationally recognized expert in self-storage law, told the North Country Gazette that one of the primary legal issues facing the self-storage industry is the operator’s failure to follow the state’s lien sale procedure law

Fichter has said that he has seen example after example in which, for the sake of expediency and to save some small expenses, a self-storage company will discard the personal property of a tenant without following the easy “safe harbor” procedures in the state’s law.

“This is sheer folly and eventually will land the mini-storage facility in a lawsuit, one which might even affect the financial ability of the facility to survive. Plaintiff attorneys have a way of smelling money and will take such cases on contingency if there is ‘gold in them thar hills’. Then the mini-storage tenant has no risk because he or she pays nothing if the attorney does not recover anything. Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish,” Fichter says. “Follow the Self Storage Act. It’s easy.”

I’ll take it a step further. If you don’t follow the laws, you may find yourself in a whole heap of bad publicity in your community in addition to a lawsuit. Avoid the need for a crisis communications campaign by taking action early. If you do find yourself in a PR nightmare, though, be sure to confront it head on with a communications plan that serves as clean up patrol. Staying silent only makes matters worse.

Click here to read the rest of this story on the North Country Gazette.

Entry Filed under: Community Relations, Crisis Communications