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irishcolleen1960 · Oct 1, 2006, 04:58 PM

My daughter is 18yrs old and lives in an apartment complex in North Georgia. Recently the apartment complex was purchased by a new owner and it is now managed by a real estate company. At he back of the property are storage buildings behind a locked gate which can be rented by tenants and only the storage building renters are given a key to the gate. One Saturday morning recently my daughter was moving her stuff between her apartment and the storage building. While she was putting her stuff away in her apartment she left her storage shed door closed but unlocked. About two hours went by and she was ready for her next load. She went out to the building only to find the real estate agent out there with work people and trucks. She proceeded to go to her building and low and behold it was totally emptied out. She approached the real estate agent and asked him where her stuff was. He said oh we are getting rid of all the property in all the buildings that do not have a lock on them. She proceeded to tell him, I have paid for this shed and I was moving stuff in and out of it this morning. He asked her if she got a letter explaining that they would do this today. She said no letter had been received. He called his office to verify and then told her, oops I am sorry I guess we forgot to send out the notices but if you want to follow me in your car to the dump we may be able to get your property back because it was just dumped there. She got in her car with her 6 month old baby and started to follow him. About a mile from the apartment complex she was in a wreck and totaled her car and her and her baby ended up in the hospital. Needless to say she was not able to retrieve her stuff. About a week later she contacted the real estate company and they sent her a letter stating that they would give her ONE MONTH FREE RENT... she does not want to accept the one month free rent... what is her recourse?? if any?? Also if she decides to proceed with this can the landlord evict her or not renew her lease??

Fr_Chuck · Oct 1, 2006, 08:04 PM

She should get an estimate of all the property she lost, the cost of any money she is out from the wreck and sue them for that.

Since she had the unit rented, they have a obligation not to enter into any unit that was paid for. ( they can not just remove stuff from unlocked units, and can't even take it if the unit was not paid for, there are rules about disposal of items in a storage unit ( and throwing it away is not part of the rules)

Next since because of their illegal act, you were acting upon their instruction to go get your property, one could present you were acting on their behalf or at the least doing it on their instruction. So any loss from the accident could well be charged to the apartment.

And if they are willing to offer free rent so quickly, they know they are wrong.

Next no they can't evict her.

Yes they have no requirement to renew her lease.

ScottGem · Oct 2, 2006, 05:49 AM

Chuck is right on here. The main problem would be getting a valuation of the property in the storage locker. I would NOT try to pad it, but make an accurate list and reasonable valuations.

Including the costs of the wreck might be a little more difficult, but it definitely reasonable to try. The approach to take is that your daughter was distraught and upset over the possibility of losing her possessions and that contributed to the accident.

I would strongly recommend consulting an attorney. I think there are many who would salivate at taking this case on a contigency basis.

Cvillecpm · Oct 2, 2006, 06:23 AM

She should have "renter's insurance" AND take the one month's free rent being offered.

Leaving her storage locker without a lock/unlocked was HER MISTAKE... whether she got a letter/notice or not. It was not SMART of her to allow access to her stuff if it was valuable... Mom - we are talking a flip of her wrist and put the key in her pocket. Leaving "valuable stuff" in an unlocked storage area for 2 hours was a big mistake.

Valuable life lesson that she will hopefully NOT have to learn again.

irishcolleen1960 · Oct 2, 2006, 06:52 AM

Thank you for your feedback!!

ScottGem · Oct 2, 2006, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by Cvillecpm

She should have "renter's insurance" AND take the one month's free rent being offered.

Leaving her storage locker without a lock/unlocked was HER MISTAKE....whether she got a letter/notice or not. It was not SMART of her to allow access to her stuff if it was valuable.....Mom - we are talking a flip of her wrist and put the key in her pocket. Leaving "valuable stuff" in an unlocked storage area for 2 hours was a big mistake.

Valuable life lesson that she will hopefully NOT have to learn again.

Yes she should have renter's insurance, but this goes beyond that.

The fact that the storage area is supposed to be secure ("storage buildings behind a locked gate") gives her a reasonable expectation of security in leaving the locker open. From my read, it was the locker she left open, not the gate. Second, this was not a theft. If it was, then you would have a greater point. But this was the management removing the items. The management has NO right to remove items unless the locker was not paid up. Even then, there has to be due process before they can.

Depending on the value of the items and the rent, a free month might be sufficient compensation for the items removed from the locker. But it doesn't begin to compensate for the other consequences that arose from the illegal removal of the property.

While I can understand that you come from a management perspective, we are here to help people with their problems. Not try to rescue management from their mistakes.

irishcolleen1960 · Oct 2, 2006, 06:55 AM

Just as a note - She did have renters insurance, however it did not include a storage building because it is not attached to her apartment. Also the buildings are behind a locked gate. However, thank you for your feedback.

Thank you... We are not out to try and soak the management company. We are not really even interested in doing anything about the car wreck... I think what was the worst thing of all was... her Dad passed away 8 months ago and she had all her pictures in there of her and him and the cards he sent her on her birthday. Now, I know that is not worth 2 cents to anyone but her. What is really frusterating is the "WE ARE A BIG REALTY COMPANY, YOU ARE AN 18 YR OLD KID...WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO ABOUT IT" attitude by the realty company...

We never said we were suing anyone and never said they were responsible for the wreck... she is taking responsibility for that... however... "the biggest warm body with the deepest pockets" as you call them actually were totally negligent because according to the landlord tenant act they MUST give at least 24 hrs notice before entering said rental property (it also states this in our lease) and also they cannot remove any personal items without a court order. Which they did not obtain. So they are negligent on both accounts. Also I am not looking to blame anyone - if you would kindly re-read my original posting... my questions were what is her recourse IF ANY? Can she be evicted? And can they refuse to renew her lease?. but, again... thank you for your feedback...

Cvillecpm · Oct 2, 2006, 09:14 AM

She can refuse to renew her lease - she is not a prisoner of the mgmt. Again, she should take the one month free offer and look for another place when her lease expires.

She is the negligent one not mgmt. The storage area is an accommodation or amenity and NOT PART OF THE LEASED Residential RENTAL PROPERTY - you are mixing apples and oranges and while she may be paying for it in her rent, it is not covered by any landlord-tenant laws as commercial storage facilities have their own rules - don't pay/padlock is cut and items are removed.

Mgmt offered to go with her to get her stuff back and she had a wreck so that did not happen... what else could mgmt could have done? Had someone stolen her items while the storage was unlocked, she could have called the police, filed a report and still been out the items and not have the one-month free rent offer.

irishcolleen1960 · Oct 2, 2006, 09:27 AM

What else could management have done... MMMMMM... let me see... perhaps stayed out of her storage building to begin with... I appreciate all of your input however, I see that this is down to a matter of opinion - yours and mine. Thank you anyway.

I think you are missing the point here. She LIKES her apartment and she LIKES living there. She DOES NOT WANT TO MOVE, and is afraid that because of this, that management may refuse to renew her lease or even evict her. Hello...

ScottGem · Oct 2, 2006, 11:08 AM

Irish,
First, I would suggest you ignore Cville's comments here. According to his profile he is a Property Manager. As such, he tends to favor mgmt's side in these issues instead of dealing with the facts.

As you correctly point out, the landlord needed to give adequate notice and could not remove property without a court order. Notice was not given, the storage space was up to date in payments. There was no way your daughter was negligent and many ways the rental company was.

You're right, no amount of money is going to replace momentos. And if you are not interested in compensation for the accident or the property, then take the one month offer. It is highly unlikely they will not renew over this. They clearly know they were wrong because they are making an offer. Even if you did sue, they couldn't refuse to renew.

I assume you checked the insurance. She should be able to add the storage to the insurance as a rider.

Personally, I wouldn't settle. I think what the rental company did was unconscionable. They deserve to be sued.

irishcolleen1960 · Oct 2, 2006, 11:55 AM

Thank you so much for your feedback. You are very kind. I appreciate your suggestions and I have an appointment with an attorney on Friday. I will keep you posted. Thanks again!!

Cvillecpm · Oct 2, 2006, 01:35 PM

Cville is a FEMALE with 40 years of property management experience who has been trained to mediate landlord-tenant issues - actually gone to school.

That said - OP's daughter needs to NOT make this a "Judge Judy" moment and handle the situation maturely.

Fear of not having her lease renewed is an option if there are too many waves caused by this issue. Being evicted is easiest if she does not pay her rent so that needs to be done BEFORE the rent due date.

Your daughter sounds young and immature so the sooner she starts fighting her own battles, the sooner she will have the knowledge and experience to handle her "life issues" for her and her child's benefit.

ScottGem · Oct 2, 2006, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by Cvillecpm

Cville is a FEMALE with 40 years of property management experience who has been trained to mediate landlord-tenant issues - actually gone to school.

That said - OP's daughter needs to NOT make this a "Judge Judy" moment and handle the situation maturely.

Fear of not having her lease renewed is an option if there are too many waves caused by this issue. Being evicted is easiest if she does not pay her rent so that needs to be done BEFORE the rent due date.

Your daughter sounds young and immature so the sooner she starts fighting her own battles, the sooner she will have the knowledge and experience to handle her "life issues" for her and her child's benefit.

You have given a lot of good advice, but I can't believe how insensitive and off base you are being here.

The situation here can be summed up as someone going about their business and finding the landlord invading their property. Because of that invasion, personal property was lost. As an ancillary effect of that invasion, the tenant was injured and their car totaled.

There is no question in my mind (nor should there be in anyone's) that the rental agent acted negligently. That negligence has consequences.

What I see is a concerned mom helping her daughter. The daughter is concerned about the rental agent trying to get rid of her if she makes waves. This may be inexperience but its not an indication of immaturity. There is also no indication that the daughter is not "fighting her own battles".

If you have been trained to "mediate" that means looking at both sides. Almost everything you have said in this thread has been from mgmt's side, with little or no consideration for the tenant's side.