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Panel approves bill letting storage facilities use online ads instead of two-week newspaper notices
Summary
House Bill 131 would modernize advertising rules for self-storage auctions by allowing "commercially reasonable" online or other advertising methods instead of the statute—s current two-week newspaper requirement; industry testimony cited low recovery rates and newspaper publication delays as burdens on small owners.
Representative Reeves introduced House Bill 131 to the Judiciary Committee as a modernization of state law governing self-storage delinquency auctions. "Georgia has around 1,500 or more self storage facilities literally in every corner of the state," Reeves said, describing the bill as an update to a statute drafted before the internet and current industry practice.
Industry representatives and small operators told the committee the existing statute requires two weeks of newspaper advertising and that the marketplace for bidders has moved online. Joe Doherty of the Self Storage Association said, "Storage Wars is not reality TV," to emphasize that most auctions yield modest returns and that bidders are now found through online platforms. He told the committee the bill would not change required tenant notice procedures; it would only modernize how auctions are advertised to the public.
Operators described substantial administrative burdens and low recovery rates. Anne Ballard, who manages more than 20 properties in Georgia, said her company wrote 4,489 auction letters in 2023 affecting 1,490 units. She told the committee those delinquent accounts represented $1,003,221 in owed charges but that the auctions recovered only $161,000 (about 22%). Ballard and other operators said delays or failures by county legal organs to publish notices force them to postpone auctions and impose lost revenue and sunk costs.
The bill replaces the statutory requirement for two weeks of newspaper ads with a standard of "commercially reasonable" advertisement and sale designed to generate at least three bidders; if three bidders are not generated, the owner must delay sale and advertise again. Committee members asked what constitutes "commercially reasonable" advertising; the sponsor said common practice is online listings on industry auction sites and, increasingly, social media and targeted online ads.
Proponents argued that the change aligns Georgia with more than 30 states and reduces both lost revenue and the operational burden on small family-run facilities. Operators also described steps they take to notify tenants — repeated emails, calls, texts, certified mailing and alternate contacts — and said those notice protections remain unchanged under the bill.
After questions and testimony from industry witnesses, the committee voted by voice to pass House Bill 131. The chair declared the bill passed with no recorded opposition.
