Can A Storage Facility Deny Access to My Other Units Rented Under a Different Company Name?
Full Question:
Answer:
The answer will depend in part on the terms of the storage contracts involved. I suggest you read the terms carefully to determine your rights and obligations, as well as those of the storage facility. It will be a matter of determination for the court whether you may be considered the occupant of all three units, despite the three business names. In some cases, it is possible to sue a person individually under an alter ego theory, in which the court will "pierce the corporate veil" to find that person liable when there is really no separate identity of the individual and corporation. Whether the alter ego theory applies will be a determination for the court, based on the facts and circumstances in each case.
A person's personal assets are often protected from liabilities of a corporation, unless the person acted outside the authority of the position, breached a fiduciary duty, or the corporate entity is not truly separate from the person's personal dealings. When a corporation engages in wrongdoing, such as fraud, fails to pay taxes correctly, or fails to pay debts, the people behind the corporation generally are protected from liability. This protection results from the fact that the corporation takes on a legal identity of its own and becomes liable for its acts. However, courts will in some cases ignore this separate corporate identity and render the shareholders, officers, or directors personally liable for acts they have taken on the corporation's behalf. This assignment of liability is known as piercing the corporate veil. Courts will pierce the corporate veil if a shareholder, officer, or director has engaged in fraud, illegality, or misrepresentation. Courts also will pierce the corporate veil when the corporation has not followed the statutory requirements for incorporation or when corporate funds are commingled with the personal property of an individual or when a corporation is undercapitalized or lacks sufficient funding to operate.
Please see the following VA statutes to determine applicability:
Section 55-417. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
1. "Self-service storage facility" means any real property designed and
used for renting or leasing individual storage spaces, other than storage
spaces which are leased or rented as an incident to the lease or rental of
residential property or dwelling units, to which the occupants thereof
have access for storing or removing their personal property. No occupant
shall use a self-service storage facility for residential purposes.
2. "Owner" means the owner, operator, lessor, or sublessor of a
self-service storage facility, his agent, or any other person authorized to
manage the facility or to receive rent from any occupant under a rental
agreement.
The owner of a self-service storage facility is not a warehouseman as
defined in Section 8.7-102, unless the owner issues a warehouse receipt,
bill of lading, or other document of title for the personal property
stored, in which event, the owner and the occupant are subject to the
provisions of Title 8.7 dealing with warehousemen.
3. "Occupant" means a person, his sublessee, successor, or assign,
entitled to the use of a leased space at a self-service storage facility
under a rental agreement.
4. "Rental agreement" means any agreement or lease that establishes or
modifies the terms, conditions, or rules concerning the use and occupancy
of a self-service storage facility.
5. "Leased space" means the individual storage space at the self-service
facility which is leased or rented to an occupant pursuant to a rental
agreement.
6. "Personal property" means movable property, not affixed to land and
includes, but is not limited to, goods, wares, merchandise, watercraft, and household items and furnishings.
7. "Default" means the failure to perform on time any obligation or duty
set forth in the rental agreement or this chapter.
8. "Last known address" means that address provided by the occupant in
the rental agreement or the address provided by the occupant in a
subsequent written notice of a change of address.
Section 55-418. Lien.
A. The owner shall have a lien on all personal property stored within
each leased space for rent, labor, or other charges, and for expenses
reasonably incurred in its sale pursuant to this chapter. Such lien shall
attach as of the date the personal property is stored within each leased
space, and, to the extent the property remains stored within such leased
space, as hereinafter provided, shall be superior to any other existing
liens or security interests to the extent of $250 or, if the leased space
is a climate-controlled facility, $500. In addition, such lien shall
extend to the proceeds, if any, remaining after the satisfaction of any
perfected liens and the owner may retain possession of such proceeds until
the balance, if any, of such charges is paid.
B. In the case of any watercraft which is subject
to a lien, previously recorded on the certificate of title, the owner, so
long as the motor vehicle or watercraft remains stored within such
leased space, shall have a lien on such watercraft as
provided for herein to the extent of $250 or $500 if the leased space is a
climate-controlled facility. In addition, such lien shall extend to the
proceeds, if any, remaining after the satisfaction of any recorded liens and
the owner may retain possession of such proceeds until the balance, if any,
of such charges is paid.
C. The rental agreement shall contain a statement, in bold type, advising
the occupant of the existence of such lien, and that the personal property
stored within the leased space may be sold to satisfy the lien if the
occupant is in default.
D. In the case of any motor vehicle that is subject to a lien,
previously recorded on the certificate of title, the owner, so long as the
motor vehicle remains stored within such leased space, shall have a lien on
such vehicle in accordance with Section 46.2-644.01.
Section 55-419. Enforcement of lien.
A. 1. If any occupant is in default under a rental agreement, the owner
shall notify the occupant of such default by regular mail at his last
known address. If such default is not cured within ten days after its
occurrence, then the owner may proceed to enforce such lien by selling
the contents of the occupant's unit at public auction, for cash, and
apply the proceeds to satisfaction of the lien, with the surplus, if any,
to be disbursed as hereinafter provided. Before conducting such a public
auction, the owner shall notify the occupant as prescribed in subsection
C of this section and shall advertise the time, place, and terms thereof
in such manner as to give publicity thereto.
2. In the case of personal property having a fair market value in
excess of $1,000, and against which a creditor has filed a financing
statement in the name of the occupant at the State Corporation Commission
or in the city or county where the self-service storage facility is
located or in the city or county in Virginia shown as the last known
address of the occupant, or if such personal property is watercraft required by the laws of Virginia to be registered and the
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
shows a lien on the certificate of title, the owner shall notify the
lienholder of record, by certified mail, at the address on the financing
statement or certificate of title, at least 10 days prior thereto of the
time and place of the proposed public auction.
If the owner of the personal property cannot be ascertained, the name
of "John Doe" shall be substituted in the proceedings hereunder and no
written notice shall be required. Whenever a motor vehicle or watercraft
is sold hereunder, the Department of Motor Vehicles or Department of Game
and Inland Fisheries shall issue a certificate of title and registration
to the purchaser thereof upon his application containing the serial or
motor number of the vehicle or watercraft purchased, together with an
affidavit by the lienholder, or by the person conducting the public
auction, evidencing compliance with the provisions hereof.
B. Whenever the occupant is in default, the owner shall have the right to
deny the occupant access to the leased space.
C. After the occupant has been in default for a period of ten days, and
before the owner can sell the occupant's personal property in accordance
with this chapter, the owner shall send a further notice of default, by
registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, to the occupant at his
last known address. Such notice of default shall include:
1. An itemized statement of the owner's claim, indicating the charges due
on the date of the notice and the date when the charges became due;
2. A demand for payment of the charges due within a specified time not
less than twenty days after the date of the notice;
3. A statement that the contents of the occupant's leased space are
subject to the owner's lien;
4. A conspicuous statement that unless the claim is paid within the time
stated, the contents of the occupant's space will be sold at public auction
at a specified time and place; and
5. The name, street address, and telephone number of the owner or his
designated agent whom the occupant may contact to respond to the notice.
D. At any time prior to the public auction pursuant to this section,
the occupant may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and thereby
redeem the personal property.
E. In the event of a public auction pursuant to this section, the owner
may satisfy his lien from the proceeds of the public auction, and shall
hold the balance, if any, for delivery on demand to the occupant or other
lienholder referred to in this chapter. However, the owner shall not be
obligated to hold any balance for a lienholder of record notified
pursuant to subdivision A 2, or any other lien creditor, that fails to
claim an interest in the balance within thirty days of the public
auction. So long as the owner complies with the provisions of this
chapter, the owner's liability to the occupant under this chapter shall
be limited to the net proceeds received from the public auction of any
personal property, and as to other lienholders, shall be limited to the
net proceeds received from the public auction of any personal property
covered by such superior lien.
F. Any public auction of the personal property shall be held at the
self-service storage facility or at the nearest suitable place to where
the personal property is held or stored. An advertisement shall be
published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, city or
town in which the public auction is to be held at least once prior to the
public auction. The advertisement must state (i) the fact that it is a
public auction; (ii) the date, time and location of the public auction;
and (iii) form of payment.
G. A purchaser in good faith of any personal property sold or otherwise
disposed of pursuant to this chapter takes such property free and clear of
any rights of persons against whom the lien was valid.
H. Any notice made pursuant to this section shall be presumed delivered
when it is deposited with the United States Postal Service and properly
addressed to the occupant's last known address with postage prepaid.
I. In the case of any motor vehicle, so long as the motor vehicle
remains stored within such leased space, the owner shall have a lien on
such vehicle in accordance with Section 46.2-644.01.
2. That Sections 46.2-1204 and 46.2-1208 of the Code of Virginia are
repealed.
3. That the provisions of this act shall become effective on October 1,
2009.