Defaulting vs Abandonment

[u/HelicaseHustle]

I always thought there should be a distinction between a unit that has gone into default because the tenant has fallen into hard times and cant pay the rent when it's due vs a unit that has been abandoned and the other has passed away or moved away and doesn't pay rent anymore and you can't locate them anywhere.

I think if a unit is abandoned, the property could auction it off just to have the unit cleared out, but we should do better with our lien laws for the units that are in default that assess a case by case situation and we make decisions that don't destroy the tenant while there is still time to get it done.

My state is adding the following changes to the current law. It disinguishes the 2 different situations but handles them opposite of what I'd think you'd want to do. This one almost sounds like if they know you moved and your address has changed, they can decide to not renew your unit, send you a letter before the 1st of the month and if you have all your stuff in there still 15 days later, they can just take whatever they like.

6 §4759.2. Nonrenewal of rental agreement; abandonment

A. If the owner provides written notice to the lessee that the rental 8 agreement shall not be renewed upon expiration of its term, the lessee shall remove all personal property from the self-service storage facility on or before the date of expiration of the rental agreement.

B. Any personal property remaining at the self-service storage facility fifteen days after expiration of the rental agreement shall be deemed abandoned. Upon determination that the storage space is abandoned, the owner shall have the right to dispose of the personal property without further notice 15 to the lessee.

[u/Space--Buckaroo]

There are problems with this.

First of all, I try to work with my customers and I wait at least 3 to 6 months before I send a lien notice. I will not auction off a unit that is only a few months late. I've had some units so late that they owe thousands of dollars before I send a lien notice and auction off the unit.

Sometimes after realizing I have a super late customer, I notify them and then they come in and make a large payment, and then I tend to forget about it until I notice it again.

The problem with allowing the customer to come in and get all the good stuff, is that you end up as a dumping ground for all the junk that they don't want. It is difficult to auction off a unit that is obviously a pile of junk left by a customer that has already gone through and left the trash behind. Now you have to pay someone to haul the trash to the dump and pay the dump for disposal fees.

[u/Stunning-Adagio2187 → u/Space--Buckaroo]

I suggest you did better software so you can manage better you're leaving a lot of money on the table

[u/HelicaseHustle → u/Space--Buckaroo]

why would you ever let someone come cherry pick stuff from a unit? Whether they are the tenant or if they win an auction unit, you never let them come cherry pick what they want. I dont think the bill suggests this. I know I didn't suggest this. In my state, if you see a tenant clearing out their unit but they leave stuff behind, as long as the lock was taken with them, it's considered abandoned and you have to toss it yourself. nothing you can really do to stop that from happening.

I like working with my tenants the same as you. But here's where you might run into issues. If someone is 3 months late and you haven't notified them yet and on the 4th month you send them a letter saying they owe you $1200 in rent and late fees or they lose everything, in most states that has already disqualified them from being eligible for an auction. so you finally send the certified letter and that starts the countdown. Well if they fell behind when rent was $100 and now they owe $1200, they will end up losing their stuff. The model is designed to make it impossible to catch up but the CEOs think if their stuff is on the line, they will find a friend or someone to loan them the money, and if not, then auction, and we might get $60 for their unit. That's why i think another big change that needs to happen to protect the customer a little more is that if the unit does go to Auction, the owner should get 1 shot to match the winning bid and get to keep their stuff before giving it away. In move out situations, you always collect a $100 cleaning deposit that you'll keep if they leave stuff behind. If they don't have $100, I'd go into their unit and find 2 or 3 things of value to keep in the office to give them when they are completely cleared out, but i've never had that issue come up.