Most people who lose the contents of a storage unit did not decide to stop paying. A card expired, a notice went to an old address, or a semester ended and nobody was watching the account. Georgia’s Self-service Storage Facility Act sets out exactly what a facility may do and when. Here is that timeline, with each step tied to the statute. It is a summary, not legal advice: your rental agreement governs your unit.
Day 1 to day 7: due, then default
- Under the statutory rental agreement language in O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a), rent is payable in advance on or before the first of each month, and the occupant is in default if a monthly installment is not paid by the seventh calendar day of the month due or if a payment check is dishonored. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
- The required agreement language in O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a) states that upon the occupant's default, the owner may without notice deny the occupant access to the stored property until payment is received. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
So the first real line is the seventh of the month, not the first. From that day the facility can lock you out of the unit until you pay, without sending a notice first.
Late fees: capped by law
- Under O.C.G.A. 10-4-217, an owner may charge a late fee under the rental agreement of no more than $20.00 per month or 20 percent of the monthly rent per month of late payment, whichever is greater. This applies to agreements entered into, extended, or renewed, and late payments occurring, on or after July 1, 2019. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-217 (2025)
Day 30 and after: the lien notice
- Under O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a), after 30 continuous days of default the owner may enforce its lien, starting with written notice to the occupant delivered in person, by verified mail, or by email, plus notice to parties with superior liens. If the owner emails a sale notice and gets no non-automated response or delivery receipt, it must also send the notice by verified mail before proceeding with the sale. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
- The lien notice under O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a) must include an itemized statement of the sum due and when it became due, notify the occupant of denial of access, give the owner's name, street address, email, and phone number, and demand payment within a stated time of not less than 14 days after delivery, warning that otherwise the property will be advertised and sold at public sale. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
The notice goes to the email and address you gave the facility, so the most useful thing you can do on the day you rent is give an email you read and an address that will still reach you.
Before the sale: you can still pay
- Under O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a), before any sale or other disposition the occupant may pay the amount needed to satisfy the lien plus reasonable expenses and redeem the property. A good-faith purchaser at the lien sale takes the property free of others' rights even if the owner did not comply with the requirements. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
The sale, and what changed in 2025
- Under current O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a), after the notice period the owner advertises the public sale once in the county legal organ, but may instead advertise in any other commercially reasonable manner unless the property is a motor vehicle, motorcycle, trailer, watercraft, or recreational vehicle. The ad must generally describe the property, give the facility address, space number, occupant name, and the time, place, and manner of sale, and the sale may occur no sooner than 15 days after publication. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code), amended by HB 131 effective July 1, 2025
- HB 131, effective July 1, 2025 and applying to lien enforcement begun on or after that date, removed the old requirement to advertise a sale once a week for two consecutive weeks; the 15 days now run from publication rather than first publication. Some older online copies of the code still show the two-week rule. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 annotations (2025 Georgia Code)
- Under O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a), a public sale includes offering property on a publicly accessible website that regularly holds online auctions, and no license is required. A sale is deemed commercially reasonable if at least three independent bidders attend at the advertised time and place. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
In practice that means a shorter path from notice to sale than older guides describe, and many sales now happen on auction websites rather than at the facility gate. Guides written before July 2025 still say the ad runs once a week for two weeks; for enforcement begun on or after July 1, 2025, it does not.
After the sale
- Under O.C.G.A. 10-4-213(a), the owner may satisfy its lien from sale proceeds and must hold any balance for the occupant or notified secured party; if unclaimed within two years of the sale, the balance is handled under Georgia's Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. The owner's liability never exceeds the sale proceeds, and an agreement's value limit is deemed the maximum value of the property stored. Justia – O.C.G.A. 10-4-213 (2025 Georgia Code)
Three habits that prevent all of this
Autopay on a card that will not expire while you are away. An email address you check. A note in your calendar for the seventh of each month.
Read the whole statute in plain English on our Georgia storage law page, and the steps to take before you sign on the storage checklist.
Written by the Storage Dahlonega Editorial Team. AI tools help us draft; people check every fact before it publishes.
Dates, rules and hours can change. The organizers have the final word: Lumpkin County Government
