What Happens If Someone is Living at Your Self-Storage Facility?
It is neither safe or legal for individuals to take up residence in a storage unit. However, from time to time, this is a problem many storage facility owners will encounter. The biggest dangers involved with this situation result from problems with temperature and sanitation. Units are not heated or insulated in a manner to provide adequate protection from winter temperatures. Unit occupants sometimes seek to combat the cold by setting small fires. One man living in a storage unit started a fire to keep warm that grew out of control and destroyed the entire facility.
Individuals living in storage units often do not have immediate access to water or a bathroom and are often forced to store their waste inside the unit. These people eat in the same place and set the stage for infestations that can damage the unit they live in as well as other units in the facility.
A storage facility owner who discovers a renter living in a storage unit is well within their rights to remove the person immediately. The owner is also legally entitled to terminate any existing contract and in most cases is not obligated to return deposits to the renter.
However, if something happens to a renter living inside a storage facility before the owner is aware of their presence, the situation becomes much more complicated. When an individual is injured or worse while living in a storage facility, the owner could be held legally or financially responsible. To guard against this threat, the prudent storage facility owner would do well to purchase a self-storage facility insurance policy.
Storage facility owners interested in a self-storage facility insurance policy should look to StorInsure. The company offers insurance solutions for all sizes of storage facilities and offers coverage in 48 states. A company representative can be reached at 801-610-2744. Interested parties can also use the online contact form for a free consultation.
