Unit Locked Nothing In it.

JoeV

Hello All,

I have a unit that was rented and the tenant never move in? I can see over the top and verify the unit is empty. I am able to just cut the lock and move out the tenant? 

AZStorageGuy

@JoeV

As long as the terms of the lease allow you to do that.  And assuming you've made several attempts to contact them (which you document in the Notes section).

JoeV

It is not in our lease but I know she is not coming back, as her friend rented and stole a U-Haul truck. She is paid until 6/30 but they have not been to the site since nor have we been able to reach by phone or email. In our lease it states we can terminate her lease with a 10 days notice so should I just issue that before the 30th of June and go ahead and move it out and cut the lock if nothing is in the unit or we have not had any contact?

JoeV

Or should I let this go all the way thru the lien process?

Orkocean

Go through your termination/eviction process as it would be quicker than waiting for it to be past due and go through the lien process. Cut the lock without doing it proper and I wouldn't be surprised if you end up hearing from the tenant and that was "grand daddies lock that's irreplaceable and worth $$$"

anotherattic

I agree with Orkocean-as long as you sent the eviction termination letter-and send it certified mail-you have your bases covered.

ThriftyStorage

First things first. Who put the lock on the unit? Is the unit being paid on monthly? If the answer is yes, no problem, but if the answer is no, I would go through the auction procedures. Send out the paperwork to the tenant. After a certain time frame, cut the lock. Case closed!

Sue_C

Note: I've moved this discussion from the Marketplace (specific to certain companies) to here in Self-Storage Operations where it's a better fit.

teamcapitola

This is always a tough call. Technically the tenant rented the unit, took possession/placed a lock on it. Now as long as they are paying for the unit, I could care less if it's empty.... Now fast forward to what @orkocean said about "Grandpas civil war treasure lock!" and ask yourself if it's worth a potential lawsuit. They could come back months later asking where "all the gold bars are" that "were inside their locked unit"!!!  Unless the tenant removes the lock, we go through the Lien process anyway just to cover ourselves; once the lock is cut and inventory shows it as empty we can write it off as abandoned (or put them into collections) Its a HUGE pain, but so is answering a lawsuit regardless of how trivial or unfounded it is.