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Public Storage Hit with Lawsuit Over Business Practices
By Jessica Tyner
Most people are familiar with the orange and purple Public Storage facilities that have popped up around the country. You’ve probably even used one before, trusting that when you put stuff in storage, it’s safe. However, the security of storage items might not be nearly as iron-clad as people think. In Charlotte, North Carolina, a lawsuit has been filed against the company claiming that it puts customers and their property in danger.
Eyewitness News went undercover in Charlotte to see just how secure Public Storage was when they thought no one was looking. In Charlotte alone, there are 35 Public Storage sites, and Paul Trott was in charge of managing them for the past six years. However, he claims in a lawsuit against Public Storage that company-wide budget cuts have caused maintenance to completely stop. There apparently isn’t even enough money to replace burned-out lights, making customers lug around flashlights to access their unit after dark.
A Burglar’s Dream Come True
It’s not just exterior lights that are burned out — Trott says many interior unit lights don’t work, either. This makes Public Storage prime pickings for thieves and vandals, and they’ve been coming in droves. Trott claims in the lawsuit that “numerous break-ins” have happened recently. Burglars aren’t the only danger, since Trott points out that the massive industrial doors are broken as well. Since they weigh over 100 pounds, they could easily kill a person if they fall.
Trott already has a laundry list of customers who have been injured, but fortunately there haven’t been any fatalities yet. Trott has tried to stand up for his customers, but his complaints have fallen on deaf ears. He says he’s told his supervisor about the problems weekly, but no changes have been made. It’s Trott who initially filed the lawsuit against Public Storage after realizing the company he’s worked for the past six years doesn’t care about their customers. But he does.
Trott’s Public Storage Lawsuit
Trott was fired in January 2013, and he thinks it’s because he wasn’t pretending everything was fine. On May 28, 2013, he filed a lawsuit against Public Storage and hopes that the customers he used to try and protect will benefit, and that the company will step up to the plate. Eyewitness News tried to reach a manager or supervisor to comment on the investigation, but no calls were returned. One generic message from Public Storage was sent, stating that the safety of their customers is “of course” of great importance.
Trott wants to send a message to the company and let them know they are accountable for safety and security. Many customers aren’t aware of the violations, or they’re used to the shoddy environment. People store precious and valuable things in storage units, and these items aren’t necessarily covered by all insurance policies.
Storage Unit Lawsuits Target Property Seizures
Trott isn’t the only consumer suing a storage unit company from allegedly improper practices. Lawsuits all over the country are being filed by storage unit customers who had their property seized without proper notice. In states like New York, this is against the law. Knowing your rights can help you avoid losing your property to an unlawful auction.
Do You Have a Storage Unit Complaint?
Did you rent a mini storage unit in New York and had your property seized? You may have a storage unit legal claim and not even know it. Just like renting an apartment, you have rights as a storage unit tenant.
Learn more at the New York Mini Storage Property Seizure Class Action Lawsuit Investigation today. You can submit your information free of charge. If you have a case, a reputable attorney will contact you for a free storage unit claim review.
Updated June 19th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
60 thoughts onPublic Storage Hit with Lawsuit Over Business Practices
Public storage on Mcnab Rd in tamarac the eoyee and the manager stole my storage and all of my kids social security numbers and passports and all of my documents. I called the cooperate ofgice and i have not heard anything from them its been months
I was given a 3 day notice prior to my storage being sold.
i just received the same lletter in san jose ca on tully rd
i got the letter on the 10 dec 2020 to move out in 5 dys or my stuff will be confiscaed andy 408 607 5632
This is a petition to require surveillance cameras operating on any Public Storage facility that is legally licensed to operate business. It should be required as a matter of course to protect the safety of the customers that place and withdraw their personal items from those storage units and for consumer protection to deter any possible thefts or bodily harm of the items placed in the units themselves.
My experience at Public Storage located at 5570 S. Airdrome Street Los Angeles, CA. 90019 is an example as to why this action needs to be taken. My storage unit along with several other tenant’s unit was recently burglarized with several personal items missing. Three days before my unit was burglarized, I alerted the storage manager that the locks on my door to the storage unit had been tampered with. As a result of tampering, my key did not work upon my attempt to enter the unit. Instead of the issue being immediately addressed, I was told I would have to fill out a form which I did February 1, 2017 and wait for a property district manager. In addition, I was told that that this district manager would not be able to come to the facility until 3-7 business days.
On the night of the robbery, itself between 7:00 p.m. on February 1, 2017, I was told there was a witness who called the police, which took the police two hours to respond, further allowing other storage unit tenants on the premises at that time the access to go through my unit and steal my belongings as well being that this witness is a known drug user and sits on the public storage property all day and sleeps on the public storage property at nights after business hours. My concern is what was the person who reported the burglary doing prior to the police showing up two hours later to take a report? My attorney informed me that it’s usually the person who runs and gaslights the incident, trying to reflect the attention away from them are usually the guilty ones of the crime.
On February 2, 2017 at 11 a.m. the next morning, I arrived at the facility and was told that my storage unit had been broken into. I inquired as to why was I not contacted immediately by phone from the public storage faculty, or district manager Mike who were there when I had arrived about the incident.
The district property manager Mike and a faculty worker escorted me to my unit. Upon arriving at my unit, the property district manager Mike told me that they went into my unit after it was burglarized and took one of my extra locks that I use for my gym locker, off of my box and locked my storage unit back up. Why would they go into my storage unit after it was burglarized and put my extra personal lock on it, instead of the public storage lock from their office?
I then proceeded to call the police department myself to give them a report. One hour later, the police arrived and escorted me to my storage facility. Appropriately, he drew his gun at the unit, advising me to stand by to ensure that it was safe, therefore discovering that my storage unit lock was bolt cut on the storage floor and belongings were ransacked and missing. We then proceeded back to the storage office and spoke with one of the worker. The officer then asked to view the surveillance camera. Upon looking around, the police officer asked if there were cameras inside of the storage building. He was told no. Upon asking why, he was told because the building is too old. The officer went on to view the footage. The officer stated he was hoping to catch those responsible on the surveillance cameras.
The officer noted that he was not sure if they were operating properly because it only showed one blurry visual of one gate entrance and didn’t show the other exit gate. The building had no cameras working inside of the storage units. From all this, I am left to feel unsafe going into the storage facility knowing that there are no cameras causing me to vacate my storage unit. On that one camera, it showed a storage occupant and another person asking them to put in their code so that they could exit the gate, which the occupant did. Innocent storage tenants renting a unit are thinking their valuable property and lives are safe behind locked gates and security cameras. We did not know the only cameras working at the facility are at the front gate office. What if a tenant happens to come onto the property to access their storage unit and it’s being burglarized, where they stumble upon the burglar and the tenant is harmed or killed because of the burglar not wanting to be identified? Innocent people are killed during a burglary. And, also there would be no way of knowing who the criminal would be because there are no surveillance cameras on the public storage facility.
Another problem is an unsecured fence. A broken piece of wire holds part of the fence together and someone cut a hole in another part which is how thieves gain entry. They are going in there with bolt cutters. These criminals are cutting locks or the metal part holding the lock. They are even renting units, then smashing holes through the walls and climbing into adjoining units in order to steal everything. These criminals knew there were no cameras back there and that there was no security, they could come back there anytime they wanted and that they had all the time in the world to do it. This is why public storage needs to beef up their security, and stop allowing transients to sleep on the property in their cars, which is loitering and against the law, and put cameras down each aisle and install electronic keypad locks on each unit.
Because 85% of burglaries are from tenants renting units. It was recently brought to my attention by the police officers that this facility has a record of break ins. So with this petition we are requesting video surveillance cameras be installed outside and inside the public storage facility. We know that surveillance camera technology can deter would be thieves who spot the security camera who can also be a threat and harm to the neighborhood and neighbors who reside near the public storage location and prevent theft from their homes as well. The police stated that is the primary function of the surveillance camera. It helps managers review what goes wrong after a burglary, but also serves as a deterrent to stop one from occurring in the first place. If the storage facility had individual alarms, which are also great tools for preventing burglaries, it makes it harder for burglars to enter and serves as yet another preventive measure to stop a “catch and grab” theft and these burglaries would not have occurred. Action should be taken to require these storage facilities to have the best interest of its customers and install surveillance cameras throughout their facilities and have proper alarm system to protect the property within them and to protect the safety of their patrons. Today, February 6, 2017 I contacted the insurance company Orange Door storage insurance program and was told that they will have to do an investigation.
Please protect yourself by signing this petition to enforce the law that public storage install electronic keypads and surveillance cameras to protect your valuable items, property and maybe your life…
I rented a unit at Public Storage back in 2008 and moved out a few months ago I has purchased insurance through them which now after I’ve been robbed Orange Door is telling me Public Storage canceled my policy I’m fighting this battle and need help the location is 1199 Western St in Fairfield Ca. They used someone’s credit cards to pay on my account and took my payments every month which means they were getting twice the rent and someone placed someone’s property in my unit with my things the manager said no one has ever been in my unit my story is long like 9 years worth I have proof of everything I say and want them stopped
Something very similar has ….been happening at
Public storage
9350 Topanga Canyon Blvd
Chatsworth, California
91326
For two weeks ….recently before, during and after November 18th 2019
Many units hit. Multiple units per day/night. No operating cameras….although there are cameras everywhere….district manager discoverers the units, secures with his own lock, calls the tenants and is evasive and reluctant to answer questions….
Leaves in emergency excuse supposed child is sick for several days after the units are hit.
No accountability.
The general idea seems to portray a ghost came into the Public Storage to rob a lot of units and walking away with thousands of dollars worth of machines and people’s personal items for repeated night or days since. There is no surveillance….nobody even knows the time of day all this occurs ….daily
the stories from all the victims of ps are the exact same.. police dont care. its only obvious and i am a damn witness to it. i watch them and their routine in some bushes across the street for like 4 hours cause and had to stay put to not be seen. I went straight ninja, dressed in black like a spy. I knew it was them.
I am in a very long large lawsuit with public storage. We had a huge robbery a very important boxing memorabilia. I am sure this is an inside job. My lawyer is Mike Kump, Santa Monica. We are going after them
I also had a theft on Oct 15th, 2020. I personally go in every month to pay and when I went in on
Nov, 2020, I was told nothing. Then on Dec 1st, 2020 I was told there was a flag on my account.
It said that my unit had been compromised. did not know what that meant. They all acted dumb and anything I asked was answered with a no. No they were not there when it happened. No they
didn’t know anything. Now being told there now appears that there is NO Video after 4 months. I had been informed that they didn’t know who was the one to find the problem. Was told the only way to get the video would be to file a police report. I asked police if they wanted to take fingerprints or to let me show them pictures that I had, Not interested. Again now the girl has disappeared. I also feel that this could have been an inside job.
Why aren’t these Storage facilities being held accountable?#publicStorage
I won’t stop until they do.all my personal info out in a stranger’s hands.SMH pissed
HAD MY THINGS STOLEN AND INSURANCE TAKEN OFF BY PS EMPLOYEE AND ALL THEY DID WAS FIRE EMPLOYEE, THEY COULD HAVE FOUND MY THINGS FOR ME ALL THEY DID WAS IGNORE ME CUSTOMER SERVICE IGNORED ME I WROTE CERTIFIED LETTERS , THEY IGNORED ME, BEWARE WHEN YOU PUT YOUR THINGS HERE, DONT TRUST I TRIED TO GO TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT I COULD NOT FIND ANYONE TO SERVE, I THINK THEY ARE OWNED BY REPUBLICANS, AND THEY DO NOT CARE WHO THEY HURT, I KNOW THEY DONATE TO KARL ROWE
cindy myers you are stupid as they come. WTF would you say “they are republicans” WTF difference does that make? youre an idiot and deserved to be ripped off for that remark
As troubled as this comment is….I do apologize for the person whose saying that has upset you. My point is that this is how the fabric of our great nation is being degraded….fellow American men and women are being turned against eachother…..it is a kind of an attack unto our nation.
Please forgive me if I have stepped out of or into bounds that Imay have crossed uninvited. I did so to try and make a caring statement because I love my country and my fellow Americans both Democrats and Republicans
She have the right to be angry , you might not in her shoe , if the stole from you . You probably said WTF those Democrats too . Neither side are any good . Everyone property’s been stolen and there no laws going after this Publics storage allow them to continue ripping tenant who paid monthly rent and buy insurance and still not reimbursed. The laws in favor the criminal poor or rich
John, i was a victim of ps ripping off my belongings, but what she said was the dumbest thing ive ever heard.
I had a storage unit in California we got broken into three times within two months I paid for their insurance and now the insurance refuses to pay out for the claim and The storage unit sensors for the security units were all cut the storage unit knew of it and did not divulge the information. And insurance wants me prove interest in my own proporty when respite where in safe that got stolen. I pay cash for everything. Hard to get respites when you pay cash
I need help! All my families belongingsN were sold at auction without proper notice. It sadden me and upsets me more than I care to type on here.
Was treated very bad when I went to rent a unit. Had one price on the phone from the sales dept. and got another price when I got there. The manager tried to get me to rent a larger unit, buy there lock, pay an application fee and pay for there insurance. None of which was told to me by the sale dept. on the phone. She was very rude and customer service is the worst. You would think they would want to have a good customer relationship. You can call customer service if you have a problem, but you wont get any where. My best advice is if you are even thinking of dealing with Public Storage don’t. If you are thinking about calling for there rates don’t. If you are driving by turn around. If you are a current customer take your things and get out while you can. They have a current class action law suit. Other than these little problems there a nice Company.
I had my belongings stolen while renting a public storage unit…Everything I owned along with my daughter and granddaughter things were stolen and I need help…I don’t know what to do or who I can go to…I want to know if I can sue as well as my daughter for our belongings…i don’t have money for a lawyer, but hope he/she can work something out…And further more what can I do or is it possible that I can still file charges although my storage was in someone else’s name…I need help desperately…i can’t let them get away with this…
i wish that we could all get together and sue this company for what they do to people, it does not affect them we have large new ps building opening up everywhere
A friend of mine paid my storage while I was in the hospital and guess what? These animals sold my stuff at auction. I wish I can find an attorney in Houston.
What government agency regulates self storage companies?