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Committee hears lengthy debate on AB 137 to allow online advertisement of storage-lien sales
Summary
AB 137 would let self-storage facilities post sale advertisements on publicly accessible websites instead of requiring publication in judicial-district newspapers; supporters say it modernizes notice and reduces costs, opponents say it risks lost notice for low-income and elderly renters and reduces transparency.
CARSON CITY — Lawmakers and stakeholders debated Assembly Bill 137 at length as the Senate Judiciary Committee heard proponents argue the bill modernizes notice for storage-lien sales and opponents warned it could reduce chances that renters learn their belongings are at risk.
Assemblymember Selena Torres Fawcett (Assembly District 3) and Assemblymember Alexis Hansen (Assembly District 32) presented the bill, saying AB 137 would replace the statutory requirement that storage-lien sale advertisements appear in printed judicial-district newspapers with permission for publication on a publicly accessible website or other designated online platforms while preserving required direct tenant notices.
"AB 137 replaces an inefficient and costly relic of the past with a more effective, more accessible, and more affordable solution," Assemblymember Torres Fawcett said during her presentation. She emphasized that the bill would not eliminate required direct notices to tenants and that libraries provide public Internet access for those without home service.
Industry witnesses — including David Goldwater of the Self Storage Association and Daniel Bryant, legal and legislative counsel for the National Self Storage Association — said owners already send multiple direct notices and that requiring newspaper publication is expensive and reaches fewer potential bidders than online platforms. "These websites have an immense amount of traffic," Bryant told the committee, and online ads can provide real-time views that newspapers cannot.
U-Haul representative Tom Clark described operators' efforts to find tenants before auctioning goods and said online alternatives would supplement rather than replace other outreach. "Their primary objective is to find that tenant," Clark said, describing the lengths managers take to contact customers.
Opponents included representatives of the Nevada Press Association, Nevada Legal News and other media outlets, as well as small weekly publishers. Kamie Dempsey of the Nevada Press Association said newspapers remain a trusted, centralized forum for public notices. Scott Sibley of Nevada Legal News warned that public notice in newspapers and on NevadaPublicNotices.com is a critical check on a private industry's authority to seize and sell property without judicial oversight. "Public notice is vital to that process," Sibley said.
Several committee members raised questions about whether the advertising step constitutes legal notice and whether moving primarily to online publication would reach seniors and low-income residents. Senator Krasner asked, "The primary purpose of notice is to formally communicate information to individuals ... It ensures due process — how would moving to online meet that standard for those without Internet access?" Industry witnesses replied that the statutory structure requires multiple direct notices and that the advertising step is aimed at alerting potential bidders, not replacing direct notice to tenants.
Other public testimony included personal accounts from callers and in-person speakers who said printed notices had once saved belongings; one caller described learning about a sale through a friend who read the newspaper and credited that notice with saving family heirlooms.
The record shows strong industry support and strong press/media opposition. Committee members questioned the balance between reducing costs for tenants (industry witnesses said advertising costs are passed to tenants) and preserving broad public transparency.
Ending: The committee closed the hearing and the measure will be taken up in future committee steps. The transcript records detailed exchange and multiple pieces of written and oral testimony for the legislative record.
