PETITION OF:

SECTION 1.

Section 3 of chapter 239 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by striking out section 3 as amended by section 2 of chapter 271 of the Acts of 2004 by inserting place thereof:-

The notice shall contain: (1) the signature, name, business address and business telephone number of the officer; (2) the name of the count and the docket number of the action; (3) a statement that the officer will place any personal property remaining on the premises at the time the execution is levied in storage at a licensed public warehouse, and the full name, full business address, and business telephone number of the warehouse to be used; (4) a statement that the warehouser’s storage rates may be ascertained by contacting the commissioner of public safety and the address and telephone number of such agency; (5) a statement that the warehouser may sell at action any property that is unclaimed after 6 months and may retain that portion of the proceeds necessary to compensate him or her for any unpaid storage fees accrued as of the date of the auction, except as provided in section 4; and (6) a statement that the defendant shall notify the warehouser in writing at the business address listed in the notice of any change in the defendant’s mailing address

The notice referred to in the section shall be served in the same manner as the summary process summons and complaint and shall be filed in the court that issues the execution. The officer shall have discretion to select the public warehouse identified in the notice described in the preceding paragraph provided that the warehouser is chosen in a manner calculated to ensure that the defendant’s personal property will be stored within a reasonable distance of the premises at issue in the summary process action.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 239 is hereby further amended by striking out section 4 as amended by section 3 of chapter 271 of the acts of 2004 as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 4. (a) If an officer, serving an execution issued on a judgment for the plaintiff for possession of land or tenements, removes personal property, belonging to a person other than the plaintiff, from the land or tenements, he shall forthwith cause it to be stored for the benefit of the owners thereof. Such property shall be stored with the licensed public warehouser identified in the notice provided to the defendant pursuant to section 3, provided, however, that, upon notice in writing by the defendant at or before the time of removal of the property, the officer shall at the tenant’s election, either permit the mover to leave the property on a public way abutting the premises at issue in the summary process action, or remove the defendant’s property to a storage facility of the defendants choosing insofar as such warehouse or other storage facility is located within a reasonable distance of the premises from which the property has been removed . The officer need not accompany the mover after the defendant’s property is removed from the premises listed in the execution. Should the defendant choose the place of storage pursuant to this section, the defendant or his designee shall be present at the place of storage at the time of delivery of the property and shall acknowledge receipt of the property in writing to the mover delivering the property, failing which the defendants personal property shall be stored with the public warehouser identified in the notice provided to the defendant pursuant to section 3. The officer shall file with the court that issued the summary process judgment and provide to the defendant in hand, or if the defendant is not present at the time of execution by first class mail to the defendant’s last and best known address, an inventory prepared by the mover containing a description of the goods removed or of the packages containing said goods, as well as the name, address and signature of the mover or his representative.

(b) A public warehouser who accepts property for storage pursuant to this section: (1) shall be licensed and bonded pursuant to section 1 of chapter 105; (2) shall file its current storage rates with the commissioner of public safety and shall not change the rates more than once annually, unless the commissioner of public safety or his designee gives prior written approval upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances; (3) shall not impose charges for storage under this section in excess of the rates filed with and not rejected by the commissioner of public safety at the time of service of the notice provided for in section 3 of this chapter; (4) shall not impose charged for storage under this section in excess of the fair market rates for storage facilities of similar quality in the warehouse’s general locale; (5) shall not impose charges other than those for the actual storage of goods pursuant to this section, including but not limited to docking fees, warehouse labor fees, administration fees, or other similar fees imposed in addition to the storage rates listed with the commissioner of public safety; (6) shall not impose minimum storage fees or otherwise charge the defendant for any period other than the period of actual storage; (7) shall credit toward the defendant’s cost of storage any amount paid to it by the plaintiff or other third party in connection with the moving or storage of the property in question; (8) shall send by first class mail to the defendant’s last and best known address monthly statements of the amount of advances made and of liabilities incurred for which the warehouser claims a lien or security interest pursuant to this section; and (9) shall insure the defendant’s property against fire and theft in the amount of no less than the fair market value of the goods stored. A warehouser shall be liable for loss or damages to the goods caused by the warehouser’s failure to exercise such care in regard to the goods as a reasonably careful person would exercise under like circumstances, but unless otherwise agreed, he shall not be liable for damages that could not have been avoided by the exercise of such care. No person shall be required to release a warehouser from liability as a condition of release of any stored property.

(c) The plaintiff in the summary process action shall pay the costs of removing the property to the place of storage. The plaintiff shall be entitled to reimbursement by the defendant for any costs and fees so advanced.

(d) Upon receipt of personal property under this section, a public warehouser shall forthwith, but no later than 7 days after the removal of the property from the land or tenements at issue in the summary process action, issue a warehouse receipt that complies with the requirements of section 7-202 of chapter 106. The receipt shall contain as additional terms: (1) a statement that the warehouser may sell any property unclaimed after 6 months and retain that portion of the proceeds necessary to compensate the warehouser for moving and storage fees actually accrued as of the date of the auction, except as provided in this section; (2) a list of the warehouser’s storage rates; (3) a statement that the storage rates may be verified by contacting the commissioner of public safety and the address and telephone number of the agency; (4) a conspicuous statement that the defendant shall notify the warehouser in writing at the business address listed in the notice of any charge in the defendant’s mailing address; (5) a description of the applicable procedures for reclaiming the stored property, including but not limited to a statement that the defendant is entitled to reclaim items of primarily personal or sentimental value at any time without payment of any fee and that the defendant shall be entitled to purchase individual items at any auction held to enforce the warehouser’s lien created under this section and an identification of the publication in which any such auction will be advertised pursuant to the subsection (f) of section 7-210 of said chapter 106. A duplicate copy of the warehouse receipt shall be kept on file at the place of storage and the original shall be served by receipted mail or hand delivery at his last and best known address. The warehouser shall keep separate the goods covered by each receipt so as to permit at all times identification and delivery of these goods. A warehouser who fails to comply with the requirements of this subsection shall be liable for damages caused by the omission to a person injured thereby.

(e) A warehouser who accepts personal property pursuant to this section shall have a lien thereon for charges for storage and for removing the property to the place of storage, insofar as such charges are imposed in accordance with this section. The lien shall not be enforced by the sale of disposal of the property until it has been kept on storage for at least 6 months. Thereafter, the warehouser may enforce the lien in the manner provided for in subsection 2 of said section 7-210 of said chapter 106, except as otherwise provided in this section. The defendant shall be entitled to postpone the sale or disposal of property for 3 months upon payment of one half of all storage fees incurred plus costs reasonably incurred in preparation for their sale pursuant to law. The warehouser may satisfy his lien from the proceeds of any sale or disposition under this section but must hold the balance fro delivery on the demand of any person to whom he would have been bound to deliver the goods. A warehouser’s failure to comply with any of the requirements of this section shall result in the forfeiture of his lien.

(f) The defendant may access his or her stored property once, without charge or payment of storage fees, either to inspect the property or to remove items having primarily personal or sentimental value, shall include but not be limited to photographs, passports, documents, funeral urns and the like. All personal property stored under this section may be reclaimed at any time upon payment of all storage fees lawfully owed by the defendant. If the property is sold at auction, the defendant shall be entitled to purchase the property in bloc or in parcels, regardless of the terms of the public sale. The failure of any third party to pay monies owed by him to the warehouser shall not affect the rights of the property owner to reclaim property under this subsection.

(g) A warehouser who violates this section shall pay a civil penalty in an amount to be determined by the commissioner of public safety after notice and an opportunity for an n adjudicatory hearing under chapter 30A, but the penalty shall not be more than $5,000. The commissioner or his designee may at any time conduct an inspection of the public warehouse storing goods under this section for the purpose of assessing compliance with applicable health and safety codes and the requirements of this section. The commissioner may reject the rates filed by a warehouser for storage pursuant to this section if the commissioner determines that such rates are not commercially reasonable or otherwise violate this section. The failure of the commissioner to reject a warehouser’s rates shall not create a presumption that such rates are commercially reasonable for purposes of liability under chapter 93A of the General Laws or this section.

(h) Notwithstanding any civil penalty imposed pursuant to subsection (g), the defendant may petition the court in which the summary process action was heard for damages or injunctive relief in connection with any violation of this section. A violation of this section shall also be deemed a violation of section 2 of chapter 93A.