85-7-125 - Enforcement of owner's lien. - Mississippi Statutes

§ 85-7-125. Enforcement of owner's lien.
 

The enforcement of the owner's lien against an occupant who is in default shall be in accordance with the following: 
 

(a) No enforcement action shall be taken by the owner, other than denial of access, as provided for in the rental agreement until the occupant has been in default continuously for a period of fourteen (14) days. 

(b) During the default period the occupant shall be notified in writing. The notice shall be delivered in person or sent by United States certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the occupant. Notices shall be deemed delivered when deposited in the United States mail with postage paid. The notice shall include an itemized statement of the owner's claim showing the sum due at the time of the notice, the date when the sum became due and any other sums that shall accrue. The notice shall also include a demand for payment of the sum due within a specified time not less than fourteen (14) days after the date of the notice, a statement that the contents of the occupant's lease space are subject to the owner's lien, the name, street address and telephone number of the owner, or his designated agent, whom the occupant may contact to respond to the notice, a conspicuous statement that unless the claim is paid within the time stated, the personal property will be advertised for public or private sale or will be otherwise disposed of at a specified time and place. 

(c) After the expiration of the time given in the owner's notice, the owner shall publish, in legal notices, advertisement of the sale to the highest bidder in a newspaper of general circulation where the self-storage facility is located. The notice shall include the address of the self-storage facility where the personal property is located, and the name of the occupant, and the time, place and manner of the sale. 

(d) A sale to the highest bidder shall take place not sooner than fifteen (15) days after the publication. If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the self-storage facility is located, the advertisement shall be posted at least ten (10) days before the date of the sale and in not less than six (6) conspicuous places in the neighborhood where the self-storage facility is located. 

(e) If no one purchases the property at the sale and if the owner has complied with the foregoing procedures, the owner may otherwise dispose of the property. Any sale or disposition of the personal property shall be held at the self-storage facility or at the nearest suitable place to the place the personal property is held or stored. 
 

Sources: Laws,  1988, ch. 595, § 3, eff from and after July 1, 1988.