The Kansas Self Storage Statute has been updated and these changes are effective July 1, 2021. Do not make any changes, do not act on changes until they are effective on the date stated above.
The biggest of these changes are that newspaper advertising has been changed to allow for newspaper advertising to move from classified advertising to any other commercially reasonable manner. This allows you to move from classified advertising to other places, however, there is a catch, meaning, you will be responsible for proving that if you advertise outside of newspapers, that you can prove that you had 3 independent bidders attend the sale in person, or via the sale online at the time and place advertised. There is a lot to that sentence. Please review this with your attorney, before you switch to online advertising.
The second big changes is Kansas operators 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 the greater of $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. There are some other changes. Kansas added a statement that if you have a value limit in your Rental Agreement, such value limit is now deemed the maximum value of the Personal Property to be stored in the Leased Space.
You are now required to add a query to the Rental Agreement, as to whether or not the Occupant wishes to designate an alternate contact to receive notices required by the Self Storage Act. These are all wonderful changes, but do require your attention to the Statute to make sure that your Rental Agreement and your policies, particularly your lien sale and advertising is compliant and in shape by July 1, 2021. If you have questions, it is recommended that you contact your attorney to make sure that you understand how to act to enjoy these changes, so that you are not out of compliance with the new Statute by the time these changes go into effect.
Congratulations to Kansas Self Storage Association and the National Self Storage Association on these important and relevant changes to the Act.
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.
