Online Storage Auctions Now Legal in Missouri

Online storage auctions are now legal in Missouri.     House Bill 1225 was signed into law on July 11th.

According to you, its legal everywhere. What made July 11 different?

According to you, its legal everywhere. What made July 11 different?

No offense, but I've never said they were legal everywhere. Eventually they will be, but as of now, only a handful of states have clear and concise language in their lien laws which permit online lien sales.

Perhaps your thinking of the post where I mentioned that OnlineStorageAuctions.com allows storage facilities to hold an online lien sale simultaneously with their live sale, which is compliant with lien laws in all states.

I believe you will allow anyone to hold a lien sale at onlinestorageauction.com regardless of state or law. Is this statement incorrect?

Since we know you won't do anything illegal, so by that definition in your mind it is legal

I believe you will allow anyone to hold a lien sale at onlinestorageauction.com regardless of state or law. Is this statement incorrect?

Since we know you won't do anything illegal, so by that definition in your mind it is legal

The two that are on there now are private party sales, so probably no legality issues there.

Since we know you won't do anything illegal, so by that definition in your mind it is legal

No, I wouldn't do anything illegal. Since we're a free site, we have nothing to gain by circumventing the law. As I mentioned in the previous post, only a handful of states have clear and concise language in their lien laws which permit online lien sales. A few other states either have no storage lien laws, don't specify where the sale is to occur, allow the facility to dispose of the unit anyway they see fit or allow the facility to dispose of the unit anyway they see fit if the unit is determined to have a value under a certain dollar amount.

However, most state lien laws require a public sale at the facility or a reasonably near public place. Some would argue that a public sale occurs when the buyer comes to the facility and pays for the unit. I disagree, but that's just my opinion. I think our lawmakers wanted lien sales to be announced to and attended by the public, at the physical location where the property was held, to prevent impropriety. But keep in mind that most of these lien laws were written before the internet was even heard of; therefore, the use of online auctions wasn't taken into account.

Nowadays, the storage industry and lawmakers seem to have embraced online storage auctions as a viable alternative to traditional on-site lien sales. One by one, state lien laws are being modified to include online auctions, but until the operator's state lien laws have this specific language, they're taking a risk.

I believe you will allow anyone to hold a lien sale at onlinestorageauction.com regardless of state or law. Is this statement incorrect?

Unlike our competitors, in our terms of use, we make it quite clear to operators that some state lien laws are ambiguous as to whether online lien sales are permissible. We encourage them to review their state's lien laws and consult with their attorney before posting their lien sale on the site. I cannot tell you with certainty that online lien sales are illegal in any state. I can only tell you which states have specific language which permit online lien sales. At this time, to my knowledge, their is no legal precedent. Therefore, we do not restrict lien sales in any state. Also, I'd like to mention that we do not actively monitor what is posted on the site, nor are we a party to the sale.

I think the rules in Australia are slightly different. They really should do a season of storage wars down under some time haha! But to address the topic, I think as long as you make sure you've done your proper due diligence and announcements, it's pretty much okay to go right?

I think the rules in Australia are slightly different. They really should do a season of storage wars down under some time haha! But to address the topic, I think as long as you make sure you've done your proper due diligence and announcements, it's pretty much okay to go right?

You would think so, but without reviewing your lien laws, it's hard to say. Would you mind posting a copy?