On June 5, 2025, Appellate Partner, Bonnie Sack obtained an order from the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirming Defendant Life Storage’s Motion for Final Summary Judgment in a dispute over a self-service storage rental unit styled John Bill Hagler v. Life Storage, Inc. et al. The Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant alleging that the Defendant improperly auctioned the contents of his storage unit.
Plaintiff entered a rental agreement with the Defendant for a self-service storage unit. The rental agreement provided that the tenant was to supply a mailing address. To change that mailing address, the tenant was to provide in writing, dated and signed, a new address. That was not performed by the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff failed to pay the monthly rental fee on the storage unit. The Defendant enforced its lien rights against Plaintiff’s personal property pursuant to the agreement and Florida’s “Self-storage Facility Act.” Fla. Stat. s. 83.801-83.809 . The rental agreement provided that a notice of auction was to be provided by U.S. Mail to the tenant’s physical address as listed in the agreement. The Defendant properly mailed the notice to the Plaintiff’s mailing address identified in the agreement and by publication. The Plaintiff contended that the notice of lien and auction should have been provided by email. However, that was not mandatory pursuant to the agreement.
