Comments on: Storage Facility Auctions

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:20:53 +0000

RE: TO BRET’S COMMENT’S ~ Thank You!

This is something I have thought about doing for 10+ years, And my biggest hesitation, has been the cherry picking.
I live in Illinois and through a 3rd party I know of an owner that did go through his units, And would turn over thing such as gun’s to the police. Also I know in Illinois when their is a listing that the News Paper adds will list the contents to some degree – Saws,Tools,Table & Chairs, Misc. Boxes…
By the description I can only assume they have been inside the unit before the auction.

By: Bret

Bret — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:01:41 +0000

I actually manage a self storage facility and have been in the storage business for over 2 years, so I have had many auctions. There are many legalities to having these auctions that do differ from state to state. The employees of the storage facility never have the right to access the space and remove things before the auction. That is considered stealing becuase the space is still leased to the customer and the belongings still belong to them until auctioned. I have never worked or talked to anyone who enjoyed having these auctions but they are necessary for the company to stay in business. We can’t just allow everyone to store their goods and never pay rent for their storage.

I have never had an auction were we have made more than the customer owes from the space, but if it were to happen the customer does receive the left over amount. All we care about is receiving the rent that is owed to us. The auctions are actually bad for everybody and my company tries to avoid them. We never make what is owed to us and the customer loses their belongings.

The purpose of running the ads in the newspaper are not to draw a crowd, but is mandatory by state law. In the state I work in, we send out first late notices, second late notices, pre-lien notices, lien notices that have to be sent certified mail, and run two ads in the newspaper.That is the state requirements, but like I said, they do vary from state to state.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:39:46 +0000

They list them in the local paper.

By: 99k

99k — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:25:27 +0000

So, how did you find the auction you went to?

By: Forest

Forest — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:46:24 +0000

I used to be in the business of attending estate sales to find treasures to sell on eBay. Definitely felt like an outsider as a 20-something amongst the older crowd. But it was always fun and you never knew what you were going to find – I liked that aspect of it.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:22:00 +0000

My guess is that younger people are all at work at their day jobs, which is why there weren’t many people there.

I’m not sure I would participate in these auctions. I love the thrill of the hunt and never knowing exactly what you are going to get,,, But it seems like a lot of work, and as you mentioned – preying on others’ misfortunes.

By: EA

EA — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:55:37 +0000

I think there are laws about how they have to sell the stuff. I don’t think they’re allowed to “cherry pick”, they have to sell the contents as one lot. Because they don’t really benefit from the auction (I think any amount they make that is larger than the late fees owed goes back to the original renter) it’s supposed to keep them honest.

By: Lucian's Mommy

Lucian's Mommy — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:18:35 +0000

This post kind of hits home for me. My soon-to-be mother in law is not the greatest with her finances. Well I might as well say that she is in her 50s and has no savings, has debt collectors calling her, and lives with her mom. I say that to tell you that she once had a storage unit. And once when I didn’t know her situation and was only “dating” her son we had put things in the shed. Me and J had no way of knowing that she was behind. We needed to get some things out because I had a funny feeling that this was the case. Well we went to the storage facility and told them that we wanted our stuff out and we were not the “owner”. They told us we had to pay the $300 late fees and dues just to open the unit and get our stuff out. We were still in high school so $300 was not happening. So needless to say we never EVER saw that stuff again. And I do not have a great relationship with his mom.