No Lock Tenants

Shelley

Does anyone else have an issue with a tenant who constantly forgets to put their lock on and/or refuses to lock their unit? 
What have you done to rectify the situation? 
I am about to give one of my tenants a 15 day Lease termination notice cause they never have a lock on the unit and I am tired of reminding them. 
Am I just being petty? 

ESS

We place an overlock and a blue tag. We also send them an emailed form stating the daily/monthly fees for us locking their space and we are not liable for their items. I don't think you're being petty. It is outlined in their lease that they are responsible for securing their unit and items....if they choose not to, they will pay for it.

Shelley

I have tried the overlock and notifications but nothing seems to work. A lot of times this tenant will give me issues when I place one of our locks on it cause she doesn't stop by during business hours and I don't live on site, so I can't come remove it. Ugh

MamaDuke7

I have one that has had no lock for over a year.  My contract states that securing the space is their responsibility.  We placed a breakaway seal and left it at that!  Customer is well aware his space is not secure but he doesn't care.  If he doesn't care, there's no reason for me to care!

Shelley

I normally don't really care, cause we are covered as far as liability goes but it is annoying when the same tenant comes in claiming that someone got into their unit..... WELL IF YOU LOCKED IT......
Seriously this is the only tenant out of 400+ tenants that is doing this... Guess it is my cross to bear. lol

i43storage

We place a manager's red lock on the unit.  We do not have office hours, so if they want to get in, they are greatly inconvenienced.

GSI03

We give tenants 2 days to fix the issue, then we put one of the disc locks on it that we sell and send them the keys via certified mail at their expense.  The total is around $18 and I have never had a repeat offender!

JEFFRY

our main problem is tenants not locking their units properly, only one of them is a "repeat" offender but its due to them being out of state lol, if someone refuses to put a lock on their unit we send them an email stating that after 24hrs we will lock their unit and send them the keys as well, haven't actually had to do it in the 2 1/2 years working at this facility

MamaDuke7

i43storage said:

We place a manager's red lock on the unit.  We do not have office hours, so if they want to get in, they are greatly inconvenienced.

Here in California we can get in trouble for denying access when the account is paid.  So we can't do it this way.

i43storage

MamaDuke7 said:

i43storage said:

We place a manager's red lock on the unit.  We do not have office hours, so if they want to get in, they are greatly inconvenienced.

Here in California we can get in trouble for denying access when the account is paid.  So we can't do it this way.

Bummer.

OHS

I have a custom letter that I kick out notifying tenant during a routine inspection we see their unit is not properly locked and secured.  Also explains we are not responsible for any loss.  It shows in Notes we have sent the letter.  If they don't put on lock we show proof we have notified them.  CYA

themage

Yep, we just remind them that it is their problem, and we will gladly put one of our locks on if they would like, but they have to be here during office hours or make an appointment to have it taken off.

teamcapitola

Our posted facility rules state that the tenant must secure their storage unit at all times.

If it is unlocked, or without lock we send an email and printed letter stating that we will secure the unit, adding the cost of a new lock to their account after 24 hours .

We take a few pictures of the unit contents, then add a numbered seal for security after securing the unit.

"Keys will be available in office for pickup during office hours".

Generally it just takes one time to curb the behavior.

The same goes for tenants who lock their unit open (our Janus roll up doors have latches that can be locked in an "open" position) a different letter is sent explaining that they have 48 hours to secure the unit, or we will cut the existing lock & secure the unit with a new lock.

Shelley

Update, I caught said tenant dumping trash on site, so I was able to evict for that reason. Thank goodness I don't have to deal with this tenant anymore. 

CoffeeZilla

I have a tenant who leaves his unit unlocked on purpose. He uses his unit to store items for his business, and since each lock only comes with 3 keys and he has over 10 employees, he leaves it without the lock. In our lease agreement it says that the customer is responsible for their own items, and responsible for their own lock and securing their unit.
I've talked to him about this and he doesn't care, because it's "not valuable stuff" according to him, and since he has alot of employees who come to get stuff out, he wants to keep the lock out. He doesn't care, and it's his business. My business is covered, so his business is none of my business. Made sure my **** was covered first though.

GSI03

He needs to get a combination lock!

teamcapitola

CoffeeZilla said:

I have a tenant who leaves his unit unlocked on purpose. He uses his unit to store items for his business, and since each lock only comes with 3 keys and he has over 10 employees, he leaves it without the lock. In our lease agreement it says that the customer is responsible for their own items, and responsible for their own lock and securing their unit.
I've talked to him about this and he doesn't care, because it's "not valuable stuff" according to him, and since he has alot of employees who come to get stuff out, he wants to keep the lock out. He doesn't care, and it's his business. My business is covered, so his business is none of my business. Made sure my **** was covered first though.

I would explain to him that, even thought HE doesn't care about it, it is a strict term of the lease he signed, and his unit must be secured at all times.

Like GSI03  said, a combo lock is a great idea....Even if you have to foot the bill and buy one for him just to keep the peace.

I've had several tenants like that... hopefully he's a great tenant otherwise! In my experience tenants like this tend to become problematic with other things, and suffer from self entitlement; I guarantee when something DOES go missing from his unit you are going to be the fist person who's "at fault"

CoffeeZilla

There are no holes for a combo lock or even a padlock. We use barrel locks.

He pays on time, but since he has so many random employees, and he never shows up here, and he never answers phone calls (except that one time I put a lock on to secure it and he got mad that his employees couldn't get in), I have no idea how to handle this.

He does suffer from self entitlement already just like teamcapitola said. This one time was the only time I've had problems with him. Now, his employees are another story. The frequently leave wooden boards and signs next to their door, and it looks like I allow trash on my lot. Which I do not. I tried calling him about this, because the employee who I talked to said they'd be back up in the morning to get it, but they never showed up. I even told them I don't allow items to be left out or else the handyman will trash it. The boards sat there for 3 days because there were so many that I couldn't get them all myself, and my handyman only comes twice a week.

I don't know what to do about him. I want to treat all my tenants equally.

Shelley

@CoffeeZilla I would send him a warning regarding dumping/leaving trash on property. If his employees continue to do it then you have cause for not renewing his lease. That is ultimately how I was able to get my no lock tenant out. I caught her on camera dumping tires up against one of our buildings. 

ESS

@CoffeeZilla If it's allowed in your lease, start charging him for the messes and no lock situation. If it's not in your lease, create an addendum. Once he is out of pocket a few times, he'll either stop doing it or he'll find somewhere else to give the headache to. People tend to listen when it comes to money.