I dont believe even half of those shows on storage locker. Most folk dont put anything valuable in storage, only odd furniture and stuff that takes a lot of room. Even if they put something valuable, they pay the rent. I suppose there is the occasional guy that dies and has either no family or family doesnt know about the locker storage. Just like all other reality shows, they are scripted and made up for sensationalism.
I beg to differ---
I have been close to a storage facility for some 15 years and have seen just about every unbelievable example.
-A Jaguar (not a collectable) stored for 13 years and rent always on time.
-People actually living in a locker
-Police overnighting in order to catch a perp
-Large assortment of very good contractors tools simply abandoned
-3 large lockers simply crammed to the hilt by a hoarder and mostly of no value but paid on time ('til she passed)
-A tenant that stole his own goods the day B4 an auction (LEO's onto that one)
-By and large 60% of delinquent lockers have left some very usable merchandise behind and that's where auctions come into play
-worst is matrasses as they are not reusable or baby car seats that have multiple recalls
-Some 40 lockers opened by torches looking for (probably) drugs. (Pushers don't like to store their merchandise at home)
By and large it seems that there comes a point whereby the renter simply comes to the conclusion that the rents exceed the stored value and stop paying the rent. Problem is then he has a space that he can't rent out until all legal steps are completed so then comes an auction that hopefully will fill the gap.
The current trend is 'on line auctions' which seems to work very well so far.
Another very disturbing trend is the stealing of catalytic convertors. (some are very pricy)
(He has a large RV storage area so it like shopping center for convertors)
Buddy's tenants have been hit some4-5 times over the last months even though he has cameras everywhere.
Hoodies and Covid masks make identification very difficult and naturally muddied plates don't help.
A good guard dog would probably help deter but then somebody would for sure sue for PTSD.
His current solution is to no longer accept any RV convertor equipped as defending against lawsuits is costly even though his contracts have proper waivers.
Recently an RV was stolen and the tenant is suing with unbelievable claims as to contents. LOL he had his best 5 suits, 10 pairs of shoes, and his wife's extensive wardrobe and supposedly the family's gems inside. So ridicule's that a judge will probably laugh it out of court. But then who knows.
When it comes to auctions some trends are noticeable.
Beautiful old collectable furniture is out, chrome and glass is in.
