Victim Shares Horror Story with Manhattan Mini Storage

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Victim Shares Horror Story with Manhattan Mini Storage

By Amanda Antell

Tenants who fall behind in storage unit rent are allowed to collect their possessions before the storage unit can auction them. However, many storage unit operators are being accused of violating customers’ rights and seizing their property and auctioning it without providing proper notice under the law. Though a very common problem throughout United States, some of the worst cases come from New York and New Jersey.

From one man’s experience, Manhattan Mini Storage was one of the worst rental experiences he had ever experienced. Posted on his blog, this man described in detail his experience in dealing with this company, and how they had essentially disregarded their rental agreement almost completely.

This man had rented two 10×10 ft. units from Manhattan Mini Storage on July 1, 2011. Manhattan Mini Storage had promised him free moving services by their in-house moving company, but had demanded $800 after the deed was done. During his first week of occupancy in the second unit in December 2011, he experienced a bad leak in the roof above his unit on the top floor, which ended up flooding his unit with “filthy water.” The manager of the property unit declared it too big of a problem to fix, and he was left on his own to fix it.

After this man lost his job and fell behind on payments, Manhattan Mini Storage put his property up for auction almost immediately. Even after the tenant had managed to get the money to pay the rent he owed and keep the unit, his possessions were still locked away because he only paid “the amount required to stop the auction.” The company then demanded another $1,000, which had to be paid immediately, otherwise he would not gain access to his property for the rest of the month. Even after paying the additional grand, however, he returned a few days later and was locked out again because the manager allegedly changed his story to: the payment had only been for “one time access.”

The final straw occurred about one year ago when the manager of his storage unit called and not only demanded that he remove all his property from his storage unit by November 1st of that year, but also demanded that the tenant sign a vacate agreement stating that he would pay them the full balance of whatever amount was still owed to the company in 60 days. However, the manager refused to give the tenant a copy of this agreement to review because “it’s non-negotiable and you have to sign it as is when you come or we won’t let you move your stuff.”

He also demanded that the tenant pay another $530 to gain access to his property for the move. If the tenant did not agree to these terms, the tenant would be blocked from his property, and it would be auctioned off unless he paid the full balance due at that time, which was now over $2,000. This amount of money was owed for the four months during which time he had only been allowed to access to his unit three times.

So now the tenant is trapped in a vicious cycle of having to continually pay $500+ rent/per month for a room he cannot access. The tenant also cannot move any property out to a cheaper location or combine the two storage units to reduce the $860/month to $335/month. The tenant fears he will lose everything he owns this December 2013 because he is still unemployed.

The man who posted his story has chosen to remain anonymous, and is unsure if he can get legal assistance for his problem. This New York man’s problem is sadly not uncommon, with many storage unit companies running similar extortion practices.

Consumer protection laws for storage units are complex, and are different by situation and state. State laws typically address the sale and disposal of property owned by the storage unit tenants, but subject to their rental agreement, the tenants do have certain rights, and mini storage companies must have certain obligations. The legal requirements and timelines involved in these cases are normally spelled out in the states’ consumer protection statutes, and plaintiffs should be aware of the limitations imposed by their state’s statutes upon such sales.

If you’ve been the victim of storage unit extortion, you have legal options. Please visit the New York and New Jersey Mini Storage Property Seizure Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can submit your claim for a free legal review and if it qualifies for legal action, a seasoned storage unit lawyer will contact you for a free, no-obligation consultation. You will be guided through the litigation process at no out-of-pocket expenses or hidden fees. The storage unit attorneys working this investigation do not get paid until you do.

Updated June 10th, 2013

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