SA members are all too familiar with ineffective and costly newspaper advertisements. Most self-service storage facility acts historically required the owner to advertise the sale twice in a newspaper of general circulation before proceeding to sale. Thankfully, the SSA and state associations have been able to amend the law in most states to permit alternative advertising methods that reach the target audience of potential bidders and are more cost effective.

However, the SSA’s great white advertising whale has long been California. Any efforts to amend the newspaper advertising requirement have not gained traction—until this year. The SSA and California Self Storage Association (CSSA) were able to work with their Sacramento lobbying team, MKP Government Relations, to secure sponsorship of the legislation from Assemblymember Juan Carrillo (D-Palmdale) for Assembly Bill 542.

Assemblymember Carrillo was instrumental in getting the bill through the legislative process. In fact, the bill did not receive a single “no” vote at any committee stop or floor vote in either chamber. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on Oct. 10, 2023. The law took effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

Prior law required California storage owners to advertise lien sales twice in the public notice district where the sale was held. The amendments take three important steps to reduce the cost of advertising in California:

1. It reduces the mandated newspaper advertisements from two to one, as long as the operator also advertises the sale on a publicly accessible website that customarily conducts or advertises online auctions or sales.
2. It eliminates the requirement to include a description of the goods in the newspaper advertisement. If a newspaper is charging by the word or by the line, this change will lead to a reduction in advertising costs.
3. It provides for more options when selecting the newspaper to advertise a sale. Operators may advertise sales in a newspaper in the county where the facility is located, rather than just in the public notice districts that are subdivisions of counties. That amendment should result in additional savings for storage operators as it provides greater access to more newspapers of general circulation.

Overall, this legislative success should provide significant financial relief for California operators. The SSA is grateful for its collaboration with the CSSA and the steadfast support of Assemblymember Carrillo and MKP Government Affairs. The SSA hopes to return in an upcoming legislative session to eliminate the newspaper advertising requirement entirely.

Additionally, in 2024, the SSA intends to pursue newspaper advertising amendments in Alaska, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Maryland (consumer permission), Nevada (pre-session work), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (ad timing), and Rhode Island.

If you are uncertain about advertising requirements in your state(s) of operation, visit the Legal Resource Center on the SSA’s website. It provides an overview of every state’s advertising requirement.

As always, please contact me with any questions at dbryant@selfstorage.org