Complaint Review: Public Storage - Nationwide

I, too, went through what you are going through, in 2012. I am now suing Public Storage in Fairfax Circuit Court for a wrongful auction of my storage unit in Alexandria, VA, and am close to the trial date. The first thing your attorney should do is check out your state's self-service storage laws. They are designed to protect the consumer. If PS did not follow all of the requirements to exercise a proper lien sale, including sending you reistered and/or certified letters about the impending auction, the company has violated state statute. Moreover, if they violated any of the terms of the contract and/or state staute, it makes the $5,000 property liability item in their leases null and void (breach of contract).

A top notch lawyer against illegal storage auctions is taking my case! 

 You had a storage unit that you paid for yet you left and expected NOT to pay for it?? IF you had a car loan and had to leave town to take care of your mother (which I offer condolences) did you think you could just stop paying the loan?

YOU are responsible for this bill therefore you are not going to see a dime in any "lawsuit".

For a period of one year you may have the right to claim proceeds from the sale minus the lien from past due rental, late fees and the expenses of the auction but your property is gone due to your negligence.

You could have mailed them a check.

Why is it that the people who claim to have 10's of thousands of dollars in a storage unit, are the same ones complaining about their stuff being auctioned off for NON-PAYMENT of said units?

But with that said...let me just start of by saying that yes Storage Facilites have certain requirements when it comes to auctioning off units and IF this storage facility failed to to that they MAY be held liable.

However, with the rest of your post one has to wonder how much of this is fact and how much of this is fiction to sensationalize your "story".

First is this statement...

the auction contract which was never sent to me states that the owner has one year to reclaim their property.

- Really?  Convienient that you never got a copy of it but somehow know that you have a year to reclaim your property, is this what this miracle attorney said.  Just on a pure "business" standpoint that is probably one of the stupidest claims I have ever heard.  As what you are saying is that any potentional buyer has to hang onto anything they find in a storage unit for 1 year.  With that requirement no one would go to the auctions, which defeats the purpose of the auction(to pay back the storage facility for delinquent rent).

Next, DA's do NOT get involved in CIVIL matters.  So while you may have submitted your case, there is no chance of the DA doing anything with it.  Now of course you are claiming the CRIME of fraud.  But answer this...fraud for the amount you are claiming would be major.  So if there was fraud or even a hint of fraud for this amount of money why haven't there been any arrests and prosecutions the ones involved? Answer...no fraud existed.

Then as to seeking a laywer.  If you truly had a "slam dunk" "earth shattering case" for the entire industry wouldn't you think that any attorney, especially this high power one you claim you talked to, take your case on contingency just for the publicity? 

No...my guess is that every attorney says they would be glad to represent you, but you need to pay them for their time.  That is give them a huge retainer up front.  Now why would they do that?  Perhaps something to think about and how strong your claim actually is.

You have not seen my contract nor have you knowledge of California. State law, and I have had legal consultation by lawyers who have won large cases against illegal auctions...and definitely have the law on my side. the auction contract which was never sent to me states that the owner has one year to reclaim their property. the DA has informed me that there has been no cooperation.  I stand my ground not just for myself but for thousands of victims.

 See what YOU have told everyone is two things. the first one is that YOU routinely are behind in paying your bills and the second is that YOU DID NOT READ THE CONTRACT!!! You can try and sue but unfortunately BECAUSE you were behind in paying THEY have FULL PERMISSION from YOU to sell off whatever is inside for whatever they can get for it. Selling YOUR property because YOU didn't pay your bill IS NOT ILLEGAL!!!!! You can cry and whine and defame them all you like, it wont change REALITY!! In fact just by making THIS post you have put a bullseye on yourself. YOU do NOT have the right to defame someone online due to YOUR inability to pay your bill on time. YOU signed a contract when you first got the unit. That means it doesn't matter WHO the manager is, THEY have to follow the terms and conditions of THAT contract. Which means that YOU have defamed THEM online for YOUR inability to pay your bills. You cant be so dense as to think that THEY have to work with you. All THEY have to do is follow the terms and conditions of the contract YOU agreed to. While YES it blows loosing all that stuff, it IS the cost of NOT paying your bill. YOU received a call on DEC. 31. Which means that you KNEW there was an issue with your bill. HOW can you act surprised when YOUR stuff is sold?? How long are THEY supposed to wait on getting paid?? So one month behind wasn't enough? Now you make it two months and some how and some way we are all supposed to believe that MAGICALLY all your stuff was sold?? GROW UP AND ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY!!!!! This is on YOU for NOT PAYING YOUR BILL!!!!! If all this STUFF was THAT important to you, why didn't you get someone YOU KNOW in the area to go and pay your bill so it was at least current?? I understand that a sick family member can be stressful, but there is NO LEGAL CLAUSE in that contract that YOU signed that gives you a pass on paying your bill due to any hardship. Be it a dead parent or losing your job. Its NOT their job to care about YOU or YOUR PERSONAL LIFE OR ISSUES!!!! Their job is to store YOUR crap and collect money for storing it.

So YOU go right ahead and try and sue them. Im sure YOU can take ANOTHER hardship in your life right now. Its not like you are 100% WRONG or anything. YOU would only have to pay the court costs, attorney fees for BOTH SIDES, plus any fines or fees from leveling a law suit that is baseless and frivolous depending on the mood of the judge. Im sorry but just because someone says something is ok or alright doesn't override the CONTRACT that was signed. Its silly and foolish to ASSUME, when you assume you do so at your own risk. You state that YOU have ALL DOCUMENTS AND PAPERWORK. If that is the case then read that contract that YOU SIGNED!! Then quietly bow out gracefully because you will SEE where you have done this to yourself.