Greetings:

I'm new to the forum and to storage in general in Flordia. The statutes here are really quite straightforward and easy to understand as pertains to storage of personal property, but I'm having difficulty finding any special requirements for the lien sale of a titled vehicle.

There are statutes in Florida that pertain to mechanics's lein sales of titled vehicles, but I can't find anything specific to just a storage facility's lien for storage or the provisions for disposal of a titled vehicle.

We have bluffed our way through some junk that was left for us, but now we have a fairly nice truck that's been 'abandoned' (?).

Any direction would be helpful.

I recommend contacting the Florida Self Storage Association (FSSA HOME) -- I am sure they could help you with this situation.

Good luck and welcome to the forums!!!

Thanks, Wayne, but I was hoping for a little quicker 'free' advice. Of course, I'm not so quick, either; see the bottom...

My owners aren't yet convinced that the FSSA is a good buy at nearly $300/year. Maybe they will in time.

I have found the Florida statute for mechanic's liens on titled vehicles, but it specifically forbids charges for storage if notice of the original claim is made more that 5 days after that payment is due. Not applicable to storage only.

The state can provide any other recorded liens by the VIN or tag number, and that takes several weeks, and a nominal fee. Throws the rest of the regular lien sale schedule out of whack.

Maybe it's not a problem.

Mine came in and paid and moved out. Therefore no current problem. But, would still like to know the procedure.

Contact Nigel at Storage Protection Auction Services - Home Page They do our auctions here in Florida, and handle all the legwork on vehicle sales.

Hello,

This info is probably "a day late & a dollar short".... but, none-the-less here it is anyway!

If you want to find out what the procedure is 'IN YOUR STATE' for dealing with a lien on an abandoned vehicle.... Just ask a fairly good sized 'AUTO BODY SHOP'!

Trust me they get the occasional person that has work done on a car that simply can't be paid for... and the owner either works out a deal... or just abandons it!

I seem to remember my Uncle Bob having to go to small claims court, and get a judgment against the owner, and then was able to sell the car to satisfy the debt owed!

The only caveat I would add to this is that I question what one would do with excessive funds in this case? I know my Uncle Bob never sold it for more than was owed on the debt....

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Thanks for the Info....
TraderGuy

Facility we purchased has this recent story: Manager sold a motorcycle at auction. Tenant discovered the manager had not followed DMV procedures. Owner wound up buying back the motorcycle, giving free rent and paying attorney - overall loss close to $6k. Seems smart to check with the state's DMV before selling a vehicle. Meanwhile I think prudent to require current licensing - "non-operational" is usually bargain pricing. Followup periodically with owners to ensure licensing remains current. Record the license number & VIN with original contract. Be sure tenant signs insurance waivers.

In Florida the statutes for selling vehicles by self storage facilities is regulated by the Dept Of Motor Vehicles. You can log onto FL DMV and look for TRANSFER OF CERTICICATE OF TITLE UPON SALE BY SELF-SERVICE STORAGE FACILITY (MINI-WAREHOUSE) OWNER'S LIEN PROCEDURE TL-28. IT HAS A CHECK LIST THAT YOU MUST FOLLOW BUT YOU ARE LEGALLY ALLOWED TO DO IT AS LONG AS YOU DO IT PROPERLY. make sure all correspondence and advertising has the vehicle vin # on it and you need to run the vin # to see where it was last registered and if there are any liens on it. That is why it is always good to have a copy of the registration on file.