Everyone can be a little forgetful from time to time, especially during the moving process. Think about it, you have ten zillion things on your mind and some of the less important ones seem to just vanish from memory in the hustle and bustle of the move.
You visited your storage unit at least 20 times over the last several months while you staged your home, sold your home and then purchased your new home. You visited so much that it becomes second nature taking off the lock, moving stuff in and out and securing the lock again to be on your way.
As you are driving down the road full of excitement because the moving process is now coming to an end, you look down on the seat of the rental truck and see nothing…and your storage lock is supposed to be there. Oops!! You think to yourself, “What did I do with that lock?” Then it hits you; like clockwork you secured your unit with your lock after you were done. Then you think to yourself that you have been driving for about 45 minutes, and by the time you would turn around and get back to your storage unit, the rental office will be closed. So, what do you do?
Not to worry, it’s not the end of the world. However, you will need to take care of this as soon as you can. The property manager has no access to your unit, and cannot rent it to another customer – only you have the keys to the lock. Even though the property manager was notified that you were vacating, if your lock is still on your storage unit, you are still renting the unit. That means you are responsible for the monthly rent until it is removed.
First things first, give the property manager a call and let him or her know that you forgot to remove your lock. There is no way for them to know if your storage unit is full of your stuff or if you emptied it out to vacate. To avoid any additional rent or fees, you will need to come and remove the lock from your storage unit. Remember, when you first rented the unit it was clean, empty and unlocked for you – it must be returned in the same condition.
Now, if you moved halfway across the country, it probably makes more sense to complete the appropriate paperwork and ask the property manager to cut the lock, and simply be assessed the lock cutting fee. Otherwise, you would likely spend way more money in gas and tolls (and time) driving back to your storage unit to remove it yourself. But, if you still live locally or you will be back in the area very soon, your best bet is to stop in and remove your lock then notify the property manager. Either way, if your lock is still on your unit and a new month has begun, you are responsible for the monthly rent – we do not pro-rate rent when vacating.
As much as you think you would never forget to remove your lock, we see it happen from time to time. Be sure to make a note that says “Remove Lock!” and tape it to your dashboard when you go to your storage unit for the last time. When you are moving, you are going to forget some things and there’s no avoiding that. Removing your lock from your storage unit when you move everything out is certainly no different!
If you have any questions about vacating your storage unit, you can read our blog on “Vacating Your Storage Unit” or contact us for more information. You can also give our property manager a call and he will be glad to answer all of your questions.
