Self Storage near you

Almost every bad self-storage outcome begins with a notice that reached an address the tenant no longer used. Florida defines the tenant's last known address as the street address or post office box address provided by the tenant in the latest rental agreement or in a subsequent written change-of-address notice, which means the burden of keeping it current is squarely yours. Update it in writing, keep the proof, and give an alternative contact if the agreement allows one.

The agreement is also where the real terms live, because the statutes are floors rather than ceilings. Florida provides that nothing in its self-storage act impairs or affects the right of parties to create additional rights, duties and obligations in and by virtue of a rental agreement, and that its provisions apply as additions to other rights available through creditor-debtor or landlord-tenant relationships. So read the document rather than assuming the statute covers you.

A self-storage lien is not a normal debt. Florida gives the owner a lien upon all personal property, whether or not owned by the tenant, located at a self-service storage facility, covering rent, labor charges, other charges and expenses necessary for the preservation or disposition of the property, and provides that the lien attaches as of the date the personal property is brought to the facility or the date the tenant takes possession. The lien is therefore already in place long before anyone falls behind. New York's statute is drawn the same way, giving the owner a lien upon all personal property stored at the facility for occupancy fees or other charges and for expenses necessary for preservation or reasonably incurred in sale.

Enforcement is where the states diverge most, and the difference is measured in weeks. Florida requires the tenant to be notified by written notice delivered in person, by email, or by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing to the last known address and conspicuously posted at the facility or unit; the notice must carry an itemized statement of the owner's claim showing the sum due and the date it became due, a description of the property reasonably similar to the one in the rental agreement, a demand for payment within a specified time not less than 14 days after delivery, and a conspicuous statement that the property will be advertised and sold or otherwise disposed of at a stated time and place unless the claim is paid. After that time expires, the sale must be advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area, and the sale must take place at least 15 days after the first publication.

New York sets a longer fuse: written notice with an itemized statement of the amount due and a description of the property subject to the lien, and a demand for payment within a specified time not less than thirty days from mailing, before goods may be advertised and sold at public or private sale in a commercially reasonable manner. Two neighbouring rules, two different amounts of breathing room. Find out which one applies to you before you need it.

There is a redemption right, and it survives right up to the sale. Florida provides that before any sale or other disposition of personal property under the enforcement section, the tenant may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and redeem the property. That is the single most important sentence in the statute for anyone who has missed a payment, and it is why opening the mail matters more than negotiating.

Money left over is also dealt with by statute rather than by the operator's discretion. Under the Florida provisions, the balance after the lien and the costs of sale is held by the owner for delivery on demand to the tenant, and unclaimed proceeds are deemed abandoned two years after the date of sale. New York's occupancy agreements may also contain a statement limiting the amount of the owner's liability, whether by room size or by a stated figure, which is worth reading before you assume the facility stands behind the value of what is inside.

Because a self-storage operator is not a warehouseman, the starting point is not that it is responsible for your goods. Florida states that a self-service storage facility is not a warehouse for the purposes of the state's commercial code article on warehousing, and New York states that the owner of a self-storage facility is not deemed to be a warehouseman under the uniform commercial code. New York's statute goes further and contemplates that an occupancy agreement may contain a statement limiting the amount of the owner's liability, expressed by room size or by amount.

So the cover you have is the cover you arranged. Ask three questions at the counter and write down the answers. Is the product on offer an insurance policy issued by an insurer, or a limited liability arrangement offered by the facility itself. What perils does it respond to, and what does it exclude. And does your existing homeowners or renters policy cover personal property away from the premises, which many do at a reduced limit and with their own exclusions.

Whatever you buy, its value depends on being able to prove what was in the unit. Photograph the load as it goes in, keep a written list of the significant items with any receipts or appraisals, and store that record somewhere other than the unit itself.

The two mistakes are symmetrical. Rent too small and you either leave things behind or pack a unit so tightly that you cannot reach anything, which turns every retrieval into a full unload. Rent too large and you pay every month for air. Estimate by room rather than by square feet: a studio's worth of furniture, a one-bedroom, the contents of a garage. Then add space for an aisle if you expect to visit, because an aisle costs less than a second rental.

The rest of the price is about convenience. A drive-up unit at ground level costs more than an upper-floor interior unit, climate control costs more than ambient, and a facility on a main road costs more than one on the edge of town. Ask what the rate becomes after any introductory period, how much notice is needed to vacate, and whether there is an administrative charge at sign-up. Where the storage is part of a move, price the second load-out at the same time as the first, since a unit you can only empty with a truck and a crew is a bigger commitment than the monthly figure suggests.