Ex Renter's Possessions

[IwannaKnowPleas]

Indiana.
I'm not sure exactly where to post this but this is the closest I could find. I recently purchased a storage unit that a previous renter had defaulted on. I took possession of everything inside and upon getting it home, found that boxes and boxes contained paperwork that had not only the previous owner's personal info on, but also that of numerous other people. It appeared that the previous owner had been a CPA of some sort. It also includes thousand of color slides and family pictures. The storage facility manager (as did another manager I spoke to) said that I could do whatever I pleased with that stuff. I was under the impression I had to turn over any personal effects that I found to the storage facility so that they could hold it in case the owner ever inquired about it. I believed this because online site I used to bid the locker had this caveat in the rules and regulations. I am prepared to take all of the personal paperwork of the previous owner and the others to the local landfill and dump it. It seems to me that what he did was 'unethical' at the least. Did I also purchase his obligation to safeguard that info or can I get rid of it? The previous renter is still alive and well. This I know for a fact. Thanks for the info!

 

[justalayman]

You would be bound by the terms of the contract you entered into regardless of
Anything the law says on the matter. I suggest you research this to determine whether the notice you read was an enforceable part or your purchase agreement or just a notice of what the laws may require.

Maybe the simple solution would be to contact the prior tenant and ask him if he wants the articles you are concerned with

 

[IwannaKnowPleas]

You would be bound by the terms of the contract you entered into regardless of
Anything the law says on the matter. I suggest you research this to determine whether the notice you read was an enforceable part or your purchase agreement or just a notice of what the laws may require.

Maybe the simple solution would be to contact the prior tenant and ask him if he wants the articles you are concerned with

I appreciate the info justalayman. My wife and I have considered that but there are numerous scenarios that could develop and only one of them is good. Although they lost the unit due to negligence, I can imagine a situation where someone could get very angry, so this is a situation I'd like to avoid unless it is legally my obligation to return the stuff. I also consider the words 'personal possessions' to be ambiguous at best so I'm not even sure what would qualify. If defined by the ex-renter it would be anything with sentimental value. I'd be happy to return the pictures and slides 'anonymously' because I have no use for them and I'd genuinely feel bad for throwing them away. I just wanna know what my legal obligation is with the contents I purchased. I understand your point about agreement vs. law and the manager's are aware of this caveat too but say that I'm under no obligation to return/protect anyone's private info (within the law). Is there a state statute you possibly point to, or maybe point me in the direction of IN. civil code? Thanks again for taking the time respond!

 

[LdiJ]

I appreciate the info justalayman. My wife and I have considered that but there are numerous scenarios that could develop and only one of them is good. Although they lost the unit due to negligence, I can imagine a situation where someone could get very angry, so this is a situation I'd like to avoid unless it is legally my obligation to return the stuff. I also consider the words 'personal possessions' to be ambiguous at best so I'm not even sure what would qualify. If defined by the ex-renter it would be anything with sentimental value. I'd be happy to return the pictures and slides 'anonymously' because I have no use for them and I'd genuinely feel bad for throwing them away. I just wanna know what my legal obligation is with the contents I purchased. I understand your point about agreement vs. law and the manager's are aware of this caveat too but say that I'm under no obligation to return/protect anyone's private info (within the law). Is there a state statute you possibly point to, or maybe point me in the direction of IN. civil code? Thanks again for taking the time respond![/QUOT

There is one issue that hasn't been addressed that may be very important. You mentioned that the documents contained a lot of personal information regarding many people, and that the previous renter had been a CPA of some sort. That leads me to believe that the documents may contain social security numbers and things of that nature.

It would be very dangerous to just dump that kind of documentation, and perhaps illegal. It would absolutely be illegal for the CPA to dump it. I am not sure about a third party, such as yourself, but I would advise you to shred the documents rather than just dumping them. Better safe than sorry.

 

[davew128]

As JAL says why not try to contact the former tenant and ask him if he wants his stuff?

 

[954Rental]

I would shred the stuff with the personal info. Sometimes the town you live in will have a free way to shred bulk paper. Look into it.

as far as the personal items, if it's not a lot of things and you know where to mail it out you can if you want,

The person with the storage unit knew they had defaulted and that their stuff would go up for bids and they didn't care, so you shouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[IwannaKnowPleas]

As JAL says why not try to contact the former tenant and ask him if he wants his stuff?

I'd really rather not have any contact with the prior owner. Even though he was legally booted out of his unit and I legally own his stuff, that may not be enough to keep him from thinking that maybe he should get the bags of 60 year old sterling silver back too. I'm very new to this 'hobby' but I know that's a snowball I'd rather not start rolling. I was just curious whether or not anyone knew the actual legality of how I would proceed. I found the Indiana laws regarding storage units and they go into great detail about the owner/renter relationship. They only mention the fact that the owner may remedy the delinquency by auctioning off the unit. They say nothing about the responsibility that the person who buys the unit has. I'm not even sure what kind of attorney I'd contact to find this out. By all appearances, this looks like something I'll be doing frequently so I'd like to know what I should do when this happens again. Thanks!

 

[Indiana Filer]

I'd really rather not have any contact with the prior owner. Even though he was legally booted out of his unit and I legally own his stuff, that may not be enough to keep him from thinking that maybe he should get the bags of 60 year old sterling silver back too. I'm very new to this 'hobby' but I know that's a snowball I'd rather not start rolling. I was just curious whether or not anyone knew the actual legality of how I would proceed. I found the Indiana laws regarding storage units and they go into great detail about the owner/renter relationship. They only mention the fact that the owner may remedy the delinquency by auctioning off the unit. They say nothing about the responsibility that the person who buys the unit has. I'm not even sure what kind of attorney I'd contact to find this out. By all appearances, this looks like something I'll be doing frequently so I'd like to know what I should do when this happens again. Thanks!

Did you buy it from a storage company with the initials SE? I've talked to the person who has helped at some of their auctions about this same issue, since I know most of the people who work at their headquarters as friends. He says you can do what you want with the materials you now own. I'd recommend shredding them if you have that option, just because it's got personal information on them, but you really don't have an obligation to do so.

The original renter had ample opportunity to redeem his unit prior to the auction, and failed to do so. A lot of times the units have nothing but junk in them when they're auctioned, but sometimes you can get some cool stuff.

 

[LdiJ]

Did you buy it from a storage company with the initials SE? I've talked to the person who has helped at some of their auctions about this same issue, since I know most of the people who work at their headquarters as friends. He says you can do what you want with the materials you now own. I'd recommend shredding them if you have that option, just because it's got personal information on them, but you really don't have an obligation to do so.

The original renter had ample opportunity to redeem his unit prior to the auction, and failed to do so. A lot of times the units have nothing but junk in them when they're auctioned, but sometimes you can get some cool stuff.

We are talking about documents with third party personal information on them, and multiple third parties at that. I absolutely would not take the risk of not shredding those documents.

 

[Indiana Filer]

We are talking about documents with third party personal information on them, and multiple third parties at that. I absolutely would not take the risk of not shredding those documents.

I agree that it should be shredded, but the OP does not have to do so legally, since it wasn't his legal responsibility to safeguard it. If he were in my town here in IN, I could tell him where he could drop it off, explaining the situation, and it could be shreded for free.

 

[LdiJ]

I agree that it should be shredded, but the OP does not have to do so legally, since it wasn't his legal responsibility to safeguard it. If he were in my town here in IN, I could tell him where he could drop it off, explaining the situation, and it could be shreded for free.

I honestly do not have the time to research the issue however I have some sincere concerns that you may not be correct when it comes to third party information.