negligence by property management?

[cg122857]

i have lived in an apartment in missouri for the last 4 yrs. all residents are provided with a storage facility in the basement of our building. the storage facility has the # of the apartment painted on it. when i moved in i was told to only use this space and that i would have to provide a lock for my storage area. my lease states that this storage area will be provided but that management is not responsible for items stored here. when i went downstairs right before halloween to get some decorations out of my storage area i found that my lock had been cut off, my locker emptied and swept clean. when i called the office they said that they had sent flyers to the residents months ago stating that we had to label our lockers with our names. i never received such a flyer nor did anyone even bother to call me to investigate why i did not label th locker. after 4 years of paying my rent on time and having my stuff in the same storage space, no-one even called. they just cut off my lock and threw my things away. when the owner of the complex was informed of what happened he said i should claim it against my renters insurance. i told them i did not think this was fair - why should my premiums go up because of their mistake - and besides the majority of things in the locker did not have any "monetary ' worth. things like my wedding dress i had been saving for the last 24 yrs for my daughter, the art projects my kids had made for the last 19 years, the baby clothes i brought my children home from the hospital in, pictures, keepsakes from my childhood, etc. , things that i believe my renters insurance would not cover anyway. i understand that the lease states they can not be held responsible for items stored in the locker; however, wouldn't this mean they are not responsible for theft or damage? does this statement protect them if they do something this negligent? what rights do i have and what should i ask for in case they ask me what i want them to do about the problem?

 

[HomeGuru]

You have a right to sue in Small Claims Court. You do not need an attorney.

 

[charliet]

that is a horrible position to be put in by the apartment complex management. given that you have met their original requirement of supplying your own lock and since each renter has their own designated storage area to house their personal belongings, i can not imagine that the flyer eliminates their liability for discarding all of your "stuff". they obviously knew it was your stuff since the space was specifically assigned to you. i am assuming you had alot of personal belongings held in storage which should have told them to look into this matter alittle further before they discard "everything". also, i can imagine that if it happened to you, it certaintly happened to many other tenents in the complex. you might want to ask around for common results. you need to try and identify everything in the storage area and discuss this with a lawyer after you talked with other potential renters who were harmed.