Where a person stores their property with a storage company and does not pay their storage fee, the storage company has the right to sell the goods to recover costs.

Before selling your possessions the storage company must;

• allow 6 months to pass after the debt first began to add up,
• give the owner of the property a Notice of Intention to Sell,
• wait 30 days,
• then publish in a widely read newspaper a notice stating when and where the auction to sell the property will take place,
• the auction must be a minimum of 28 days from the date of the notice.

Any surplus money from the sale of the goods, less reasonable expenses must be either given to the owner of the property or if the owner cannot be found within 28 days after the auction the money is to placed with the Public Trustee.  If the money has not been claimed within 6 years, the storage company may claim it.

A trader can not sell the goods when there is a dispute such as the customer refuses to pay the amount owing on the goods, or the customer is not satisfied that the inspection, custody, storage, repair or other treatment of the goods has been properly carried out.

In addition to the above, special provisions apply in the case of uncollected motor vehicles.  The trader must give notice to the Police in writing to see if the car has clear title.

Once clear title has been given, place an advertisement in a state-wide newspaper and the government gazette. This notice must state the trader’s intent to sell if the motor vehicle and if not collected within 28 days the motor vehicle will be sold.