Florida Senate - 2025                                     SB 386
       
       
        
       By Senator Harrell
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00746-25                                            2025386__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to self-storage spaces; amending s.
    3         83.803, F.S.; revising the definition of the term
    4         “last known address”; amending s. 83.806, F.S.;
    5         revising the notice requirements of owners of self
    6         storage units in order to enforce a lien on a tenant’s
    7         property; revising the notice requirements for such
    8         owners who wish to sell such tenant’s property;
    9         amending s. 83.808, F.S.; requiring that rental
   10         agreements for renters of self-storage units which are
   11         entered into on or after a specified date provide
   12         certain information in compliance with the Florida
   13         Self-storage Facility Act; providing that failure or
   14         refusal of a tenant to designate an alternate contact
   15         does not affect a tenant’s or an owner’s rights or
   16         remedies; providing an exception; authorizing owners
   17         of a self-storage unit to send notice to certain
   18         tenants’ last known address to apprise such tenants of
   19         a specified right; reenacting s. 713.78(2)(b), F.S.,
   20         relating to liens for recovering, towing, or storing
   21         vehicles and vessels, to incorporate the amendment
   22         made to s. 83.806, F.S., in a reference thereto;
   23         providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 83.803, Florida
   28  Statutes, is amended to read:
   29         83.803 Definitions.—As used in ss. 83.801-83.809:
   30         (1) “Last known address” means the street address or post
   31  office box address provided by the tenant in the latest rental
   32  agreement or, subject to any requirement in the rental
   33  agreement, in a subsequent written change-of-address notice
   34  provided by hand delivery, first-class mail, or e-mail.
   35         Section 2. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 83.806,
   36  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   37         83.806 Enforcement of lien.—An owner’s lien as provided in
   38  s. 83.805 may be satisfied as follows:
   39         (1) The owner must notify the tenant and any alternate
   40  contact tenant shall be notified by written notice delivered in
   41  person, by e-mail, or by first-class mail with a certificate of
   42  mailing to the tenant’s and, if applicable, the alternate
   43  contact’s last known addresses address and conspicuously posted
   44  at the self-service storage facility or on the self-contained
   45  storage unit. If the owner sends notice of a pending sale of
   46  property to the tenant’s last known e-mail address and does not
   47  receive a response, return receipt, or delivery confirmation
   48  from the same e-mail address, the owner must send notice of the
   49  sale to the tenant by first-class mail with a certificate of
   50  mailing to the tenant’s last known address before proceeding
   51  with the sale.
   52         (4) After the expiration of the time given in the notice,
   53  an advertisement of the sale or other disposition must shall be
   54  published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of
   55  general circulation in the area where the self-service storage
   56  facility or self-contained storage unit is located or on a
   57  public website that customarily conducts or advertises personal
   58  property auctions or sales.
   59         (a) A lien sale may be conducted on a public website that
   60  customarily conducts personal property auctions or sales. The
   61  facility or unit owner is not required to hold a license to post
   62  property for online sale. Inasmuch As any sale may involve
   63  property of more than one tenant, a single advertisement may be
   64  used to dispose of property at any one sale.
   65         (b) The advertisement must shall include:
   66         1. A brief and general description of what is believed to
   67  constitute the personal property contained in the storage unit,
   68  as provided in paragraph (2)(b).
   69         2. The address of the self-service storage facility or the
   70  address where the self-contained storage unit is located and the
   71  name of the tenant.
   72         3. The time, place, and manner of the sale or other
   73  disposition. The sale or other disposition must shall take place
   74  at least 15 days after the first publication.
   75         (c) If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the
   76  area where the self-service storage facility or self-contained
   77  storage unit is located and the owner does not publish the
   78  advertisement on a public website that customarily conducts or
   79  advertises personal property auctions or sales, the
   80  advertisement must shall be posted at least 10 days before the
   81  date of the sale or other disposition in at least three
   82  conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the self-service
   83  storage facility or self-contained storage unit is located.
   84         Section 3. Subsection (4) is added to section 83.808,
   85  Florida Statutes, to read:
   86         83.808 Contracts.—
   87         (4) Rental agreements entered into on or after September 1,
   88  2025, must contain a provision that apprises the tenant of the
   89  option to designate an alternate contact to receive notices
   90  required by the Florida Self-storage Facility Act and must
   91  provide space in the agreement to designate the alternate
   92  contact.
   93         (a) Failure or refusal of a tenant to designate an
   94  alternate contact does not affect a tenant’s or an owner’s
   95  rights or remedies under this section or under any other law.
   96  The alternate contact, if any, may not have any rights to access
   97  the tenant’s storage space at a self-service storage facility or
   98  the tenant’s self-contained storage unit or the personal
   99  property contained therein unless expressly stated otherwise in
  100  the rental agreement.
  101         (b) For rental agreements entered into before September 1,
  102  2025, an owner may send notice to the tenant’s last known
  103  address to apprise the tenant of his or her right to designate
  104  an alternate contact by the method specified by the owner in the
  105  notice.
  106         Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  107  made by this act to section 83.806, Florida Statutes, in a
  108  reference thereto, paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
  109  713.78, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  110         713.78 Liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles
  111  and vessels.—
  112         (2)
  113         (b) If a towing-storage operator recovers, removes, or
  114  stores a vehicle or vessel upon instructions from:
  115         1. The owner thereof;
  116         2. The owner or lessor, or a person authorized by the owner
  117  or lessor, of property on which such vehicle or vessel is
  118  wrongfully parked, and the removal is done in compliance with s.
  119  715.07;
  120         3. The landlord or a person authorized by the landlord,
  121  when such vehicle or vessel remained on the premises after the
  122  tenancy terminated and the removal is done in compliance with s.
  123  83.806 or s. 715.104; or
  124         4. Any law enforcement agency, county, or municipality,
  125  
  126  she or he has a lien on the vehicle or vessel for fees specified
  127  in paragraph (a), except that a storage fee may not be charged
  128  if the vehicle or vessel is stored for less than 6 hours.
  129         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.