What Parents of Children with Special Needs Should Know About California Storage Lien Laws
Understanding the ins-and-outs of the law can be challenging, but is often necessary when dealing with anyone who has bought things to store. If you happen to have kids or work with children, then you might be buying more things to store than most people. For teachers and special needs parents this can mean anything from art supplies, to computers, to home electronics. And, if you like to store things to help minimize the clutter in your physical space, then you also might need to be bankrolling a storage facility… as well as researching the legal aspects of storage liens.
A storage lien is a type of legal claim against possessions, that is secured by your state’s storage laws. In the state of California, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) governs things that have been put into any kind of warehouse or storage facility where there is a contract present. Regardless of the size or length of the lease, whenever items are brought to a warehouse, once there, they are subject to the UCC. Storage lien laws may seem obscure, but if you are dealing with a storage unit full of supplies for special needs children, then you will want to know about them.
For special needs teachers, a storage container for classroom materials can be life-saving. These containers can be fully loaded with educational materials that help both students and teachers alike. Unfortunately, a storage unit can also fall victim to unexpected liens that make it impossible to reach your materials without paying exorbitant “release” fees. These fees can sometimes equal the value of the goods inside the storage unit.
Let’s say that your child is at an age where crafts are important. Your home might be filled with cardboard, paper, tape, glitter, scissors, paint, and anything else that would make a class project more entertaining. You may be thinking that you can save money with a storage unit while also getting extra craft space. But, if the owner doesn’t pay their bills and your kid’s craft box becomes lien property, then the storage container could end up costing you more than you bargained for.
California contract law generally requires notices to be provided when a payment has been missed. This is true for both California storage units and for classroom materials. So if your child’s teacher isn’t getting their paycheck and uses a storage unit as extra room for desks, the school district should be warning you about an impending lien. However, most people never think about how their storage units might be ‘uncovering’ legal issues, until too late.
