Clearing a Storage Unit in Texas: Deadlines, Liens and Where Everything Goes
In Texas, a storage facility has a lien on everything in your unit from the day you move it in, for rent and charges that are due and unpaid. To sell without going to court, the facility needs the lien in underlined or bold print in your rental agreement, written notice to you, 14 days for you to pay, and an advertised sale. Until the sale, you can pay and take your things back.
Call (682) 432-7401
If the rent is behind: the sequence Texas law sets
Texas Property Code Chapter 59, in the order a tenant meets it. This is general information, not legal advice.
- 1
The lien exists from move-in
It attaches when the property goes into the unit, covers charges that are due and unpaid, and takes priority over other liens on the same property.
- 2
Selling without a court takes bold print
The facility can seize and sell without a court judgment only if the written rental agreement sets out the lien in underlined or conspicuous bold print. Otherwise it needs a court order.
- 3
Written notice of the claim
Delivered in person, by verified mail, or by e-mail if the agreement allows it, with an itemized account of what is owed and a statement that the contents have been seized.
- 4
Fourteen days to pay
The notice must say the property may be sold at public auction if the claim is not satisfied on or before the 14th day after the notice is delivered.
- 5
The sale is advertised
If the claim is not paid, notice of the sale is published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a county newspaper, and the earliest sale date is the 15th day after it first appears.
- 6
You can redeem until the sale
Paying the amount of the lien plus the facility’s reasonable expenses before the sale gets the property back.
- 7
Any surplus is held for you
If the sale brings more than the debt and the costs of the sale, the facility must notify you, hold the excess and pay it if you ask within two years.
Emptying a unit in one visit
Most of the time goes on decisions made at the unit door. Make them before you arrive.
- Check the move-out notice your rental agreement asks for
- Book the truck or the crew inside the facility’s access hours
- Bring the gate code, the key and your ID
- Decide what you keep before the door goes up
- Set aside paint, fuel and chemicals for your city’s collection
- Sweep the unit out and photograph it empty
Where the contents can go
| What is in the unit | Where it can go |
|---|---|
| What you are keeping | Your home, or a smaller unit if you are consolidating. |
| Usable furniture and household goods | Donation. Each Fort Worth Drop-Off Station has a Goodwill point that takes furniture, though not mattresses or bedding. |
| Bulk waste, for a Fort Worth account holder | Up to 5 cubic yards a month at a city Drop-Off Station, with the account holder there in person. |
| Bulk waste, for a Haltom City resident | Waste Connections’ drop-off station at 2120 Minnis Dr: four visits or one ton a year, with a Haltom City water bill and driver’s license. Hard hat and safety vest required. |
| Paint, fuel and chemicals | Your city’s household hazardous waste route, never the facility dumpster. |
| Everything else | A hauler, loaded at the unit door. |
Residency rules follow you, not the unit
The free drop-offs near a storage facility are usually not open to you just because your unit is there. Fort Worth’s Drop-Off Stations take bulk waste only from Fort Worth households with a city solid waste account, and Haltom City’s station only from Haltom City residents with a Haltom City water bill.
That is why a unit in one city and a household in another so often ends with a hauler. The load goes straight from the unit door to the truck, and nobody has to qualify for anything.
Running a facility instead?
Clearing units after a lien sale or an abandonment is a different job, with its own paperwork and timing.
FAQ
Related questions
- Can the facility lock me out of my unit?
- Texas’s storage lien law does not set out a lockout rule; what the facility can do about access is a matter for your rental agreement. What the law does set is the sale process: written notice, 14 days to pay, and an advertised sale.
- Can I get my belongings back before the auction?
- Yes. Under Texas Property Code §59.008 you can redeem the property before it is sold by paying the amount of the lien plus the facility’s reasonable expenses.
- What happens to the money from a lien sale?
- It pays the debt and the costs of the sale. If there is money left, the facility must tell you, hold it, and pay it to you if you ask within two years of the sale.
- Can I use the facility’s dumpster when I clear the unit?
- Only with the facility’s permission. Ask the manager before you start.
Read next
- Storage unit cleanouts
- Storage facility cleanouts
- Junk removal in Haltom City
- Where to take old furniture in Fort Worth
Sources
The public rules and figures on this page come from these pages. Programs, limits and hours change, so check the source before relying on a detail.
Ready when you are
You point. We haul. That is the whole arrangement.
Pick a pickup window online, or send a few photographs and get a free quote back first. Homes or businesses, one item or a whole property.
Or call (682) 432-7401
The Fort Worth branch
Junk Koala Fort Worth
2001 Beach St, Ste 524
Fort Worth, TX 76103