Nobody Likes It, But Late2Lien Makes It Easier To Deal With

It is perhaps one of the least liked aspects of self storage, right there with cleaning out storage units when customers leave junk behind. Let’s face it, having to invoke a lien on a customer is no fun, but it is extremely necessary. "Lien” is Anglo-French meaning "bond” and in California there may be no stronger bond for CSSA members than Late2Lien and its founder Jeff Greenberger.

Greenberger has grown increasingly popular as a guest speaker in California because of his vast knowledge of the lien process. Along with Tammy Salvo (Director of Business Development for Late2Lien), Greenberger has established friendships and connections with the CSSA and its members.

"Almost from the beginning of my self storage practice many years ago, I began working with the CSSA,” says Greenberger. "I really enjoy working with the members, and the members are really supportive of education of themselves and their employees. I love teaching a class for CSSA and seeing the owner of a large company sitting at the classes with their onsite managers, having a great time, learning with each other.  I teach in a lot of states and I do not always find owners who participate in education like they do in California.”

"It also doesn’t hurt that Erin and Brenda are so much fun to work with,” adds Greenberger. "They are extremely innovative; if I come to them with an idea, they find a way to make it work.  I am teaching a ‘Boot Camp’ concept for the Association four times this year. Erin gave me the idea, I gave the CASSA some suggestions and then Erin said ‘run with it.’ It is a great, mutually beneficial relationship.”

So what is Late2Lien?

Late2Lien provides an automated system that looks at each unit's activity on a daily basis to determine where in the default timeline a unit resides and what action to take based on the status. Late2Lien knows what notice, the timing thereof, and to whom, how and where the notice should be sent, as well as validates auction dates and automates advertising. Furthermore, the system checks for military status (based on Social Security numbers), handles all returned mail processing, and provides additional mailings as required to all contacts and/or lien holders associated with each unit. All the information is available and viewable 24/7 through the online portal.

Based on each state statute, Greenberger wrote the "if, then, when, how, what, who, where, why” statements for the Late2Lien system as well as each letter template required resulting in a complete 50-State Template Library. From those extensive parameters, the Late2Lien technology department coded each element to form a highly intelligent automated system which intuitively processes notifications based on criteria such as timelines, days past due, amounts, and letter requirements for each stage in the lien sale process. Once parameters are met, the notifications are automatically generated, scanned, mailed (and emailed), tracked, recorded, and stored within the Late2Lien system. This allows owner/operators to have full visibility into the notification process, as well as develops a centralized location for reviewing all activity prior to sale. In the event of a change in state law, Late2Lien automatically updates the forms and protocols to conform to the latest requirements.

"I have been involved in the self storage industry for close to 15 years,” says Greenberger. "Originally, I was representing owners and operators in my hometown. Once I started speaking at the national tradeshows, owner/operators in other states began asking me to help them (especially in states such as California, where, it is no secret, people are litigious). The next thing I knew, I was working with all sorts of operators in California, from facility owners to some of the largest management companies in the country.”

"The transition to Late2Lien was a fortunate accident, but once the idea was flushed out, it was a no-brainer; the solution that I had been looking for on behalf of my clients for years was automation.  Really, it was completing a 50 state compliance library, then understanding how to re-write it for automation, then finally realizing that creating automation was not nearly as clear and easy as I thought it was.  In the end, after a tremendous amount of work, and a great team who all believed in the idea and end product, Late2Lien turned out to be an elegant product, delivering a lot more than I thought it could.  Late2Lien is really the solution to a lot of problems owners/operators face in today’s complex and litigious world.”

Greenberger, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and still lives there, is busy raising four sons, ages 8-14.

"Between practicing law, developing and managing a new company, and raising four boys I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies and interests,” he adds. "I enjoy watching my children swim competitively and have become a USA Swimming Official, so I travel with my kids and work at their meets to stay involved and connected with them.”

He also volunteers for several non-profit groups that need legal help, including the Clermont County Humane Society. 

"At every speaking engagement I try to pay attention to all the questions in hope of finding a name for a rock band I will never form.  So far, I think the best name is The Dead Tenants, but I keep waiting for the next better name.”

As far as members of the CSSA are concerned, he could call his rock band Lien on Me and that would be A1 on the Jukebox.