Jun 142021
 

The North Dakota Self Storage Statute has been updated and the new changes are effective August 1, 2021. Do not make any changes, do not act on changes until they are effective on the date stated above.

You can now send your lien notices via a lower expense Verified Mail, which is generally recommended to First Class with Certificate of Mailing, or it is also possible to send Default Notices by electronic mail.

The other big change is advertising has been completely revamped. You may now advertise once, at least Seven (7) days prior to the sale, but the advertisement is now in a “commercially  reasonable manner”. Remember, this is a technical issue that you must review with your own local attorney, before trying to make this change yourself. Please review these specific requirements with your own local attorney before making any changes.

Vehicle towing is now possible after the Statute changes. Again, you want to review this with your local attorney, before beginning vehicle towing, so you understand the various requirements of towing, notice and other issues involved in towing. Another big change is you now have a safe harbor late fee. Meaning you now know that as long as you do not exceed a late fee of no more than $20.00 or 20% of the monthly rent, you are in safe harbor, meaning that your late fee is now deemed reasonable, as long as you keep it that amount or less, and do not charge more than one late fee per month.

This is a big win for North Dakota Self Storage Association and the National Self Storage Association on these important and relevant changes to the Act. Congratulations to both and your state for such a big win.

Jeffrey J. Greenberger is a Partner with the law firm of Greenberger & Brewer, LLP, in Cincinnati, Ohio and is licensed to practice in the states of Ohio and Kentucky. Mr. Greenberger’s practice focuses primarily on representing the owners and operators of commercial real estate, including self-storage owners and operators.

 Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)