COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS: Provides relative to the Self-Service Storage Facility Act. (8/1/26)
SB 165 revises Louisiana law governing self-service storage facilities and the rights of owners when a lessee defaults, the rental agreement ends, or the owner seeks to enforce a storage lien. The bill updates statutory definitions to expressly recognize electronic mail, electronic mail addresses, wireless telecommunications devices, and electronic rental agreements, reflecting modern communication and contracting practices in the storage industry.
The bill also expands and clarifies the notice process. Owners may satisfy notice requirements by verified mail, email, and text message when the lessee has provided those contact methods in the rental agreement, and the bill specifies notice procedures for privilege enforcement, default, termination of the rental agreement, and nonrenewal. It adds new provisions allowing an owner to terminate a rental agreement with 15 days’ notice, treat property left after expiration as abandoned after 15 days, and dispose of abandoned property without further notice. It also preserves existing lien-sale procedures while allowing, in some cases, publication on a publicly accessible auction website instead of only in a newspaper, and it addresses towing of motor vehicles, watercraft, and trailers after prolonged nonpayment.
SB 165 amends and reenacts multiple sections of the Self-Service Storage Facility Act in Title 9 and adds two new sections, changing the legal framework for storage-facility rental agreements, default remedies, notice delivery, abandonment, and disposition of stored property. It affects owners/operators of self-storage facilities and lessees by broadening electronic notice methods, clarifying when default occurs, and giving owners more direct authority to terminate agreements, deem property abandoned, and enforce liens or dispose of property under specified conditions. The bill also interacts with towing law for certain vehicles and preserves the distinction between self-storage facilities and warehouses unless a document of title is issued.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and enacted without recorded committee opposition in the provided materials. It passed the Senate 35-1, the House 93-0, and the Senate concur vote 32-0, indicating strong bipartisan approval. The overall sentiment suggests the legislation was viewed as a practical update to modernize notice and enforcement procedures for self-storage facilities.
No committee debate or transcript was provided, and the vote history shows little visible opposition. The main policy tension likely centered on balancing efficiency for storage-facility owners against protections for lessees whose property may be sold, towed, or deemed abandoned after notice periods. Potentially contentious provisions include expanded electronic notice, shortened timelines for removal of property after termination or nonrenewal, the ability to dispose of property without further notice after abandonment, and the reduced advertising requirement for some sales or public auctions.