As a veteran myself we didn't always get a chance to notify folks we were being deployed. I was shipped off several times at a moment's notice with no time to notify folks like this. Doesn't always happen this way but it surely does happen...
Being a veteran, as I am, you knew that at a moments notice you could be called up. Knowing that, how hard would it have been to have a contingency plan ready for such an event. Anytime I've had stuff I've put in storage, I leave a number for them to call if I miss any monthly payments..Not hard to do really.
For one, it is a lot easier to notify people nowadays than it was before. So I don't know what period you were referring to but it should be less likely now. For another, if for some reason it's still not possible to notify, whereas the first time being caught by surprise is completely understandable, not prepping for a repeat would be entirely your own fault. Of course, it doesn't mean it isn't a thing anymore. Because the rare first times must still exist. But it should be a lot rarer than you are implying it to be.
@@roberthawxhurst3717 The boxes just give the storage company a heads-up that they need a court order before "foreclosing" on storage unit "X". It's for internal administrative use, to make sure your company doesn't screw up. It's probably not meant as a legal defence in and of itself.
@JR how do you know it was his fault? Maybe the bank/credit card company or even the storage company is at fault for not getting the payment details correct or not paying it even though he arranged it. It could be his fault. But even so, they still have to make contact and see about setting it straight. If the storage company didn't get a court order, is it possible they boofed when it came to the payment details?
@@buffuniballer You are right about the bank/credit card. I have rented 2 storage units for over 10 years for my business and a couple of years ago I received a notice that they were going to auction my things. My credit card company had issued new cards with new numbers because of fraud on their end and I had given the information to the storage company. The storage company typed the account correctly, but the expiration date was wrong and the bank paid it for 5 months then suddenly wouldn't honor it. Fortunately, I am in town, know the manager, and was able to go in and figure it out. Both the storage lot and the bank were at fault but I could have lost my business records.
Something similar happened to me back in 1992. I lost sentimental items too. Unfortunately, I was young and inexperienced. Glad to hear someone got a little justice.
Im a property manager for a storage company. Its a big no no to even put a lien on Service member’s storages. It’ll get you fired. I personally have huge flags setup on active military accounts that keep me from auctioning their items. On the flip side I had one military account not pay for 3 years and rack up $8500 in dept we couldn’t collect. So the storage company can get screwed too
That was the DOJ lawsuit, the military member also can sue the company for his loss of the mementos and other items that were irreplaceable and have them return those items they sold. Making them trace the items they sold, and buy them back.
@@natea4158 Tracing what they sold is easy. Even at country auctions nobody bids and buys without handing over id. The court can order the people who conducted the auction to hand over those records. The problem comes after that, if the buyer re-sold the stuff for cash and doesn't even know where it went.
I can say from personal experience that the military often extends deployments, and the military member may not be able to contact people to let them know they their deployment was extended. When I was on a submarine, it was impossible to let people know that my deployment was extended.
That wouldn't really matter though, the SCRA covers you until 12months AFTER you leave active service. Not to mention that even with the court order to sell his stuff the judge has the power to stay that action until after his service is finished. All he had to do was forward his orders/activation notice to the company, which I'm assuming he did do otherwise the DOJ wouldn't have won the case.
I too on multiple occasions returned home 3-4 months after a 1 week assignment. On multiple occasions I was only allowed to notify my emergency contact, who had been vetted, that I would be gone "for a while" and give them an emergency phone number, not for me but for someone in the know.
Sadly? They went to another county... eh... who cares... if they stayed HOME would be no issue... but got off to kill people in their own county... meh could not care...
I dont see WHY its sad. They know they had a bill and didn't pay it . They could choose for a direct withdrawal from their paycheck deposit or prepay or just pay their bill from whatever means they want.
@@teekay1785 I was thinking about that too, what if they made the mistake of having a bank like wells Fargo that reportedly routinely takes double loan payments out and doesn't put money back until you complain? I've talked to multiple people saying they had lots of checks bounce due to that, "mistakes" that certain banks make often that result in massive profits for the banks, and suffering for customers. An ex boss said Wells Fargo did that to him multiple times, causing our paychecks to bounce, causing our personal checks in turn to bounce. A coworker said there had been 2 nightly "news magazine" type tv programs about wells Fargo making millions a year in interest playing fast and loose, not to mention them adding false extra accounts like more recent news reports.
I live near a huge military base. Lots of soldiers/airmen and their families. One of the largest single employers in the state . I believe there are over 60,000 men and women presently posted here. Local businesses know how to cater to these folks. They all know how the rules work-and that goes for both sides. There are standards these soldiers/airmen have to follow, and that also applies to the businesses that deal with them.
I saw one of this storage war type programs once and it was all fake apart from one where they found some medals from a guy that had been in Gulf War 1. The buyer of the lot had been a CPO and went to great lengths in tracking down the guy who was in a Hospice and gave him back his medals and his dignity.
@Ben Jurqunov dude, WTF? One guy was in a HOSPICE. How are they going to have sex? And why are you saying they're homosexual anyway? Are you casting assertions on their characters??? 👉 You speak of other people with RESPECT! 👈 😡
if it's just in military news i doubt that many people have heard about this and im sure the storage company knows who bought the items but getting them back from the buyer IF he still has them may be complicated if he's not a reputable person
@@contradictorycrow4327 i don't think my storage place has any insurance other than what all buisnesses need. if the place burns i think im responsible for my own insurance. if im not then my whole unit was packed with picassos
This happened to my grandfather's family during WWII. My great uncle came home just in time to win the auction for the family farm, much of their belongings were auctioned off. Twenty years later they found oil on that land.
I am glad that you did this story. I know of many instances when the military failed to make payment or extent a contract for storage of household goods for a serviceman that is either deployed overseas or has extended their overseas tour.
I worked for the collections department for a major cellphone company, and the company didn't do a good job of training people how to deal with this. And they didn't have a place to indicate that a customer is in the military. Oddly enough the training for bankrupt customers was excellent and the steps were very easy.
And some of my mates thought I was mad when I bought my own warehouse, a few of them now pay me for space in it, for stuff they don't want their partners to know about, lol, I've also stored cars for mates in the military for nothing, Rj in Oz
Had a storage place close out their record for my unit. Their record said I closed my account, so they didn’t have anyone to notify, and they just considered all my stuff “abandoned” and sold it to someone. Which they admitted, until they realized they were liable and changed their story. They told the court that “meth-heads” must have cut the locks and cleaned out the unit (swept even!). They couldn’t explain why their records also showed the unit as vacant, though. Refused to tell who they sold the stuff too so that it might be recovered.
Sounds like you had around 20k of very valuable electronics in that storage facility and that they should kindly give you there camera records so you can press charges and investigate who those meth heads were. Betcha it was the owner and his son.
Atleast 1 thing I can agree with you on what you mentioned. That these stories should get more coverage. These people that enter the military deserve thanks from all of us not to be taken advantage of and sell their stuff etc. Thanks to those that have and are serving. Can't thank those people enough.
In addition to what you said, it also brings this to mind for military members and family. With all the other preparation they need to do i can easily see overlooking details here and there, then combine that with being difficult to reach and the odds of something like this happening go up.
If you have the customers Name, dob and ss#, you can pull what’s called an MLA (Military Lending Act) through the Defense Manpower Data Center which will tell you if that person is active. You can print the one page report and keep it with your records. You must have it for lending purposes, but it can be useful in these situations as well. And, it’s free.
I had seen this story from a Boston TV station several days ago. Thought you would like to see the last paragraph in the article : "Father & Son has been the subject of several (WBZ-TV) I-Team investigations over the years and accused of holding customers’ belongings hostage while demanding more money. (Massachusetts) Attorney General Maura Healey took legal action against the company in 2017.
I managed a finance company (a job I loved) in the 70s and 80s. One of the first regulations I learned was the SRA. This company was family-owned and in a relatively small town, so we would not have taken or sold property anyway.
I was typing out Service Relief Act as you started to cover it. I am well aware of it because I had to have a cell phone bill dismissed, Sprint did not shut it off after I called them to inform them i was being deployed.
@@frankyflowers ALL US phone companies must pause your service during any overseas deployment. It is covered in the Law that was discussed. If it is a long term plan you do not get out of the rest of the contract. You just start back where it was paused. My situation was treated as a default by the company so I was able to get it dismissed in whole including the remainder of the contract.
Having the military question is good, but expecting someone to notify them that they are being deployed is actually unreasonable and could be an issue of security. I got called on a Friday to report for recall on Monday. I was lucky to get a weekend. Not much time to get loose ends wrapped up.
when I went on a 6 month deployment in the Navy, I saw about keeping my things in storage. When I found out how much it would cost, I realized it would be cheaper to throw every thing away and replace it all with new stuff when I got back. I ended putting everything I could in my car and left it the car lot provided by the Navy and anything that couldn't fit went in the garbage.😏
Yeah, Myself personally and sever gents I know of we all did the same thing in preparation for deployment. strange thing was deployment was canceled two days early. That was a rough couple of weeks.
All of the AF bases I’ve been to had on base storage available for those deployed… I would have thought the navy would have those to since they deploy more than the other services.
I was online sometime last year, at the department of motor vehicles, when i overheard the conversation of the lady on line in front of me. Seems her son was deployed to afghanistan, and she was trying to find out how to renew his drivers license. They informed her that his driving priviledges have been suspended in the state of Pennsylvania due to the fact that he never surrendered his license plate when his insurance expired, (apperently his auto insurance lapsed in his absence) so they suspended his drivers license.She told them that he couldn’t keep the paperwork current because he’s in afghanistan fighting a war. They said “it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse. He’s an adult, he should be more responsible. And later added, sorry to hear that…and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it”. Wow. WTF???
The DMV employs some real creepy assholes. Last time I was there I was treated like crap. I could not complain as they have so much power over you to make your life miserable, and they know it. I was getting the REAL ID done and they tried to keep me from getting it...asking for a EYE TEST when that was not even part of the list of requirements. I got it after many many hours there. Real Torture.
next time tell her to contact the federal representitives... they will unleash hell on the state. I did it when I had issues with the county when I was overseas. Kay Baliey set them straight.
Went on a 6 month deployment that got extended another 12 months and was living in the on base BAQ paying fees to live there. While on deployment the BAQ management cleared out my private room and disposed of my legally parked vehicle. My deployment orders for the initial 60 days were on the door to the room and in the car but I was unable to update the orders to the additional period. So they disposed of my items. Got nothing from them when I returned to base.
As a person who helps run a small family self-storage business...I appreciate this video. I'll be updating our leases tonight. But..... I still don't understand why doesn't the lease hold up in court? If the tenant did not inform the owners he was military, and then did not keep up on rent or respond to notices? I have several units past due about to go auction, should I try (yet again) to get in contact with them or do more intrusive investigating in attempt to find out if any might be military? Note: Indiana law has little to no laws regarding self-storage rentals. The rental laws we do have are for "dwellings" or residential & commercial properties only. It's extremely frustrating to have nothing to comply to.
This is the very reason why deploying military members need the Power of Attorney. When I served, they stressed to us that we should have one for cases like this. For members who are married, that part is easy as it should be able to be given to the spouse. However, for single members, that can be very difficult because where they are stationed, they may not have a trusted family member or friend where they are currently stationed to take care of their matters for them.
Thank you for reporting this. For every one of these cases that gets reported there are probably hundreds where the service member is taken advantage of. Why? Simple, these places don't care about the law. The likelyhood of a business being fined or held liable is extremely low. Even if they do get money, it's a fraction of the value.
I attend dozens of storage unit auctions every month. I even upload the unboxing videos on another YT channel. I can say that the bigger national storage unit companies triple check their facts before auctioning off a unit. They even will auction a unit and then not award it to the winner if they think there will be a legal problem. The smaller mom & pop facilities usually have no clue what they're doing. Most of the units I buy are because someone either went to jail or died. The story is usually waiting to be told as the boxes and totes are opened up.
for service medals and hand made furniture from your grandfather, that shit is pennies. either the judge didnt care or was bribed or the system is made this shitty way. but it doesnt make any sense
@@galactic_socialist Yes, actually, that’s literally what it means. Service medals have immense value to those who own them. To say anything otherwise is to be disrespectful of human nature; A person sacrificed years of their life doing incredibly dangerous services to get those medals, they are going to value them.
Working for a large mortgage company, we were beating the bushes trying to get info on service members for possible SCRA benefits. The funniest one was one older person getting really upset that he didn't qualify. He made a point of letting us know he was a WWII Vet and it wasn't right he didn't qualify. This is no joke,... turns out he was in the GERMAN army.
I understand the law as you explained it and the contract options to prevent it etc. My question is Doesbt the service member ALSO gave a responsibility to make sure his bill for the storage unit is paid ?? Seems like this is a great reason to lease the unit ONLY on direct withdrawal terms etc .
I can find no no such law in Texas property code chapter 59, Self service storage facility liens. When the contents of the storage unit are sold, the buyer owns everything. Sometimes as a courtesy the buyer will bring personal items to the storage facility office and, again as a courtesy, the manager may try to contact the tenant to come retrieve them, but that is not required by law. In my personal experience tenants seldom claim these items because they have long since ceased contact with the storage facility.
I was USN 1960-80 and I remember numerous lectures we attended about our rights as serviceman deployed. I also remember personally when transferred to a new duty station for at least 2 to 4 years, I always got Local registraton and drivers s licenses for the time I spent in the Local, I have VA ,Tenn, HI, and Florida. I also would register to vote where ever that was. One problems if you are a civilian, If you work in a state, you had to change over. I worked at the NCR plant in Lake Mary Fl. One day the state police checked all cars in the parking lot for local licenes. If they had out of state plates, and a miliarty sticker they passed them by but those with no military sticker got a ticket. My dad work in Industral Electrician and had to sneak around when he worked out of state to not get tickets. Some law is needed to protect those who work in many different states. Expensive to comply with local requirements
@@josephhodges9819 The person that made the purchase might would not be responsible for tracking things any further that would still be the responsibility of the person that sold the stuff illegally. You hit the individuals that ran the company with grand theft charges and see how fast they can start tracking stuff down.
@@josephhodges9819 Well it can be idnetifed. Plus the theft wound not just be those items it would be everything in the storage locker. the threshold for grand theft is not that high. But there should have been a list of bidders so that would be where you started tracking, and a reputable auctioneer is going to have records of what everything went for and who purchased it. just to cover their rear if a dispute arises.
Unfortunately, that happened quite often in the mid-2000s to military personnel & families; multi - billion companies involved first said they did not know about the laws ; they later tried to fight it in court, but had to settle quickly because the military legal teams was coming down HARD!!!
People who do this to Service Members need to go to jail. If the bass were smart they would blacklist this business it's a business and tell their service members not to use it.
In Chesapeake, VA a few years ago, a Navy service member had his car sold by a towing company after his apartment complex posted a notice on his door (while he was deployed), saying that the parking lot was going to be repaved and all vehicles must be moved. The Virginian Pilot reported that the apartment complex reimbursed the service member for his loss, but the whole thing could have been prevented by that simple line in the lease agreement.
i also have my grandfathers medals. and if anyone touches those thats not apart of my family. its game over. so i can imagine what that guy is going through with that stuff. i hope he gets that stuff back
I know a army guy had his house condemned because the yard was overgrown. He was deployed and couldn't find someone to keep it up. It was a money grab buy the city to auction the property
I was stationed in San Antonio and one of the things we had for deploying members was a deployment lot. It’s where they can leave their cars while overseas. A few papers to fill out and a file made, kept on the law enforcement desk. Every shift would go and check to make sure the vehicles were safe.
May be put a notice on your belongings like "property of military service man, moving them without court order is crime" As far as I can see that tv shows, they briefly check the unit, seeing such a note avoid bidding people, at least bidders will be properly noted. Regarding paying sentimental value, paying cash value is not a solution. Bidders must be tracked, storage company must buy back items. Since items are illegally obtained there will be no legal issues. Most business rely on just paying cash and slip from trouble, but if they realize they have to cover all the costs they will not make these mistakes.
I served 20 years in the Air Force, I was deployed many times and I have to wonder why the airman didn’t pay his storage bill. He was likely at Al Udied AB, Qatar he has access to email, mail and internet. They did violate the law, but even military members should use common sense.
Have you heard of the one where an HOA sold the house of someone in the military worth over 300k for less that 2k to recoup some fines while he was deployed?
I don't have many details I just heard about it from a RUclips channel reading stories from the JustNoHOA subreddit I think I believe it was one of those states like Texas where an HOA can sell your home to recoup their fines without much legal intervention from the state... they are basically legalised mafia
@@Fuxy22 Yeah the more I hear about HOAs the more I ever wonder why anyone ever joins one. My families personal story, my dad had our house repainted, in its ORIGIONAL color, the HOA said nope we just changed the color scheme and the origional color is no longer on the approved list, repaint it again or loose your house. We went third option, got the neighbors together voted no confidence in the HOA board and replaced them with my dad as the head. First order of buisness origional colors are back on the approved list.
I remember having a car when I went to the army when I came back I had no car to drive cause my father sold it. I discovered that the payments I was sending where being pocketed by my father . I had no chance of getting anything back. I told my daughter it's best not to own anything while she is deployed in the Navy just save up and buy everything when you get out. The military takes care of most things like transportation living place food etc. She didn't listen and got a car and tattoo but it's her life I can't tell her she is wasting money on body art and car payments.
In the movie "Stripes" with Bill Murray, the main characters wanted to run away and hide from their problems by signing up for the military. They pull up in their junky car to the Army Recruitment office, in front of a fire hydrant, they were told "You can't park there!" . "That's all right. We're abandoning it."
Almost happened to me during basic training, on auto pay from my bank to pay for storage. My bank cancelled my debit card(due to breach), couldn't pay bills 4 weeks into basic training, luckily I had family to help out while I was gone.
When i was deployed i had something similar happen to me. I owned a portion of my family's old farm, 50 acres plus or minus. Housing area was put in on either side of me. They had no right of way through my property but ran their access roads right through my front and back yards. They tore down fences which were property markers and put in their own causing me to lose over a third of my property as they squeezed me on 3 sides. I was eventually able to recover my property but my lawyers costs were well in excess of property value.
@@mattlane2282 yep bc no other groups of ppl throughout human history have done this as well. When the culling come you will be in the 1st batch. BTW If we had no military (you know fighting is what they do) you be getting but plugged by someone speaking another language. Believe me, the rest of the world doesn't live in this fantasy world you wish apon.
I think that is reprehensible. Serving in the military allowed some private companies with government assistance to essentially commit theft. No criticism from here, but why wasn't it possible to get your attorney fees paid as part of the case? I would think that the builders would be liable, and they generally have deep pockets. Thanks for your service anyway, sincerely stated even if I'm a liberal considered to have earned the death penalty for thinking mask and vaccine mandates aren't illegal. Thanks for your reply if you choose to do so.
@@davebeach2343 I had to argue before the county commission to get the roads removed from my property. The county came in and removed the culverts and dirt access roads at no cost to me. They gave the pipes that ran under the road to the owners of the housing areas as they had purchased it. They apologized to me and said they had thought they were not on my property and had been going by a survey provided by the housing area owners. My property is old, it is a property description and at the time was not surveyed out. It had property markers and a fence. It was completely fenced in. When they tore the fence down while i was away is what allowed their survey to shave off my property. It was a mess AND I was lucky to get my property back. If i had taken them into court and tried to recoup my losses i ran the risk of losing my property which has been in my family for generations.
I know several people who have suffered personal injuries and/or wrongful death and won sizable awards in court. Each one has said they would give it all back and then some to make it as if never happened.
I am glad to see these service members get justice. I had the same thing happen to me lost all my belongings and family antiques. Got deployed in the beginning of the war on terrorism when I came back the storage company sold off all my stuff even after being payed. Jag office said I had a case, but said they could help with civil suit. I went to several law firms, but got the run around it was enough money for them to get involved. I felt hurt and pissed off I served did what I had to do for my country, and I get a big FU upon my return.
This rips me. When my WWI (survivor) grandfather passed away, the wife of my father's brother sneakingly took his medals. I can't say how, but the medals were brought back to the family.
My family members from the time period all served and tons of stuff was brought back state side and someone on my dads side stole it all and sold it for drugs
A question that was not answered was how did servicemember arrange payment? When I was in, it was very simple to go to the dispersing clerk's office and arrange an automatic allotment to the storage company for the amount of the rent. If you were smart you did this because even in peaceful times, a deployment can get hectic and you won't always be able to write the check. If the storage company was smart, they'd ask for an allotment to be set up.
When I served in the Army during the '70's we called these the "Soldier and Sailors Act" as shorthand for these protections which you described. We may have misunderstood what they were but that was what we called them.
I have a close friend who lives in So. Calif. and has been evacuated from their home a few times due to fires. I asked them what do they take when they have to leave right away....Their answer came very quickly - Their pets and photographs and other mementos. Being from Michigan, I never even thought of photos and other things like that. So, while other peopls photos don't mean much to you or I, they do mean a lot to the owners...
I believe when an auction occurs, there is some type of data collected of the buyer. Usually you have to reguster at an auction and get a number, then they know what number purcahsed the unit and paid them. They should be able to track down the buyer. Of course if he's thrown away the memoriabilia he's out of luck. Plus most people going to auctions are resellers so it's likely his stuff was resold, like the furtniture. Sad.
When I served in the Navy I had every payment set up for auto payment through my Command. I knew I couldn't depend on sending checks due to long deployments where I had very limited postal access. I personally think both parties are at fault.
Now a funny story is when a repo-man drives on base and try's to repo a car. YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE! Just a car thief found knocked out in a parking lot after midnight.
That happened in Charleston, pier 4 parking. They knew which boats were on deployment. He was retired air force stealing batteries and tires. He got beat up pretty bad.
One line, two boxes is a place to start. If they check yes then there should be a place that the renter would put his local military address. When I was in the Army we filled out military's post office forwarding order. I once got told late in the afternoon to be at the military base airport @ 7 AM the next morning with my gear and I was shipping out albeit, it was a temporary duty assignment, no time to call anyone. I did use the Postal service to notify people and businesses plus my unit asked what I wanted done with my mail. I put in a change of address from my civilian address to my base address when doing any extended period of time.
When I was in boot camp way back in 1980 I remember being taught pretty extensively about the Soldiers and Sailors Act put into place at the end or or right after WW2 because of stuff like this.
As to the contract, add lines requesting the military member give them their base, unit, and CO. They could then contact them if any issues arise including non-payment.
You also need to account for Reservists, who while the moving contract is signed, may not be on Active Duty; but then get activated and deployed. Further, the deployment may be classified, which would prohibit the Service Member from notifying anyone of their deployment.
Nope. It would prohibit them from saying anything about where, why, and how but merely saying that they are going to be deployed isn't classified or at the very least I have never heard of it being classified.
I was stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB and had all of my stuff sold including my new car. The courts said tough . I wasn't behind in storage payments either. They just made a boo boo.but i was the one that lost everything.
When storing stuff in the unit, just put a massive sign in the unit that states you are military. Then, when the unit is opened to be auctioned, everyone can see that they have to check for court orders.
Then it's up to you to get the information of your enlistment to them and set up a new contract with the proof. The military do give you time before reporting for basic to "get your affairs in order" so get your shit together.
I'm a veteran from many years ago but I know some who were not allowed to tell anyone they were being deployed. This happens if it is a unit move or the unit is on a special assignment (think 101st Airborne, 82nd Airborne, Special Forces, SEALS, etc.). Others who could be moved very rapidly were in Intelligence or had special assignments. In all of these cases, the nearest military post could be contacted and the Staff Legal Office/SJA would be able to assist the person who had the items in storage. Also, many times the military will pay for the storage! When I was assigned overseas my stuff was put into storage and the Army paid for the storage plus 90 days after I returned.
As a veteran myself we didn't always get a chance to notify folks we were being deployed. I was shipped off several times at a moment's notice with no time to notify folks like this. Doesn't always happen this way but it surely does happen...
Being a veteran, as I am, you knew that at a moments notice you could be called up. Knowing that, how hard would it have been to have a contingency plan ready for such an event. Anytime I've had stuff I've put in storage, I leave a number for them to call if I miss any monthly payments..Not hard to do really.
For one, it is a lot easier to notify people nowadays than it was before. So I don't know what period you were referring to but it should be less likely now.
For another, if for some reason it's still not possible to notify, whereas the first time being caught by surprise is completely understandable, not prepping for a repeat would be entirely your own fault.
Of course, it doesn't mean it isn't a thing anymore. Because the rare first times must still exist. But it should be a lot rarer than you are implying it to be.
Steve's free advice about two boxes protecting the storage business seems shaky.
@@justanoman6497 1981..And how long has the government been deploying soldiers? The military never prepared them for such a day...Come on man.
@@roberthawxhurst3717 The boxes just give the storage company a heads-up that they need a court order before "foreclosing" on storage unit "X". It's for internal administrative use, to make sure your company doesn't screw up. It's probably not meant as a legal defence in and of itself.
After the inventory list of items sold, I don't think $60k is nearly enough compensation.
Another 20K of punitive damages should have been added.
@JR What did the service member do wrong? Perhaps I missed that part.
@JR how do you know it was his fault? Maybe the bank/credit card company or even the storage company is at fault for not getting the payment details correct or not paying it even though he arranged it.
It could be his fault. But even so, they still have to make contact and see about setting it straight. If the storage company didn't get a court order, is it possible they boofed when it came to the payment details?
@@buffuniballer You are right about the bank/credit card. I have rented 2 storage units for over 10 years for my business and a couple of years ago I received a notice that they were going to auction my things. My credit card company had issued new cards with new numbers because of fraud on their end and I had given the information to the storage company. The storage company typed the account correctly, but the expiration date was wrong and the bank paid it for 5 months then suddenly wouldn't honor it. Fortunately, I am in town, know the manager, and was able to go in and figure it out. Both the storage lot and the bank were at fault but I could have lost my business records.
@JR Another know it all. So tell me, what are the winning lottery numbers this week?
Something similar happened to me back in 1992. I lost sentimental items too. Unfortunately, I was young and inexperienced. Glad to hear someone got a little justice.
Im a property manager for a storage company. Its a big no no to even put a lien on Service member’s storages. It’ll get you fired. I personally have huge flags setup on active military accounts that keep me from auctioning their items. On the flip side I had one military account not pay for 3 years and rack up $8500 in dept we couldn’t collect. So the storage company can get screwed too
That was the DOJ lawsuit, the military member also can sue the company for his loss of the mementos and other items that were irreplaceable and have them return those items they sold. Making them trace the items they sold, and buy them back.
Can he? And how much would it cost him?
it was federal for not getting a court order first. if he didn't pay it could still be ok from the local level.
@Straw Man Get law enforcement involved. They can subpoena the security footage.
@@natea4158 Tracing what they sold is easy. Even at country auctions nobody bids and buys without handing over id. The court can order the people who conducted the auction to hand over those records. The problem comes after that, if the buyer re-sold the stuff for cash and doesn't even know where it went.
@@robertawalsh2995 did that ever happen? people buy junk by the pound.
I can say from personal experience that the military often extends deployments, and the military member may not be able to contact people to let them know they their deployment was extended.
When I was on a submarine, it was impossible to let people know that my deployment was extended.
That wouldn't really matter though, the SCRA covers you until 12months AFTER you leave active service. Not to mention that even with the court order to sell his stuff the judge has the power to stay that action until after his service is finished. All he had to do was forward his orders/activation notice to the company, which I'm assuming he did do otherwise the DOJ wouldn't have won the case.
@@Shinryudan1 sure but the stuff still might be gone.
Oh come on. Any reasonable Captain will surface to let you make a quick phone call. (Yes, I am kidding)
@@Shinryudan1 I am sure he did AFTER his personal possessions were gone.
I too on multiple occasions returned home 3-4 months after a 1 week assignment. On multiple occasions I was only allowed to notify my emergency contact, who had been vetted, that I would be gone "for a while" and give them an emergency phone number, not for me but for someone in the know.
Sadly this happens to military members all the time. Thank you Steve for sharing this story.
Sadly? They went to another county... eh... who cares... if they stayed HOME would be no issue... but got off to kill people in their own county... meh could not care...
@@mattlane2282 have you always been a troll, or is this new for you?
I dont see WHY its sad. They know they had a bill and didn't pay it . They could choose for a direct withdrawal from their paycheck deposit or prepay or just pay their bill from whatever means they want.
@@teekay1785 I was thinking about that too, what if they made the mistake of having a bank like wells Fargo that reportedly routinely takes double loan payments out and doesn't put money back until you complain? I've talked to multiple people saying they had lots of checks bounce due to that, "mistakes" that certain banks make often that result in massive profits for the banks, and suffering for customers. An ex boss said Wells Fargo did that to him multiple times, causing our paychecks to bounce, causing our personal checks in turn to bounce. A coworker said there had been 2 nightly "news magazine" type tv programs about wells Fargo making millions a year in interest playing fast and loose, not to mention them adding false extra accounts like more recent news reports.
@@JimsEquipmentShed Ah you mad at the truth?
I live near a huge military base. Lots of soldiers/airmen and their families. One of the largest single employers in the state . I believe there are over 60,000 men and women presently posted here.
Local businesses know how to cater to these folks. They all know how the rules work-and that goes for both sides. There are standards these soldiers/airmen have to follow, and that also applies to the businesses that deal with them.
I saw one of this storage war type programs once and it was all fake apart from one where they found some medals from a guy that had been in Gulf War 1. The buyer of the lot had been a CPO and went to great lengths in tracking down the guy who was in a Hospice and gave him back his medals and his dignity.
I fear that some of these guys would mark it no if someone ignored the question.
That’s beautiful
Perhaps fake. I don't trust reality shows
@@CelestialLites There are quite a few shows with reports of item seeding the storage lockers.
@Ben Jurqunov dude, WTF? One guy was in a HOSPICE. How are they going to have sex? And why are you saying they're homosexual anyway? Are you casting assertions on their characters??? 👉 You speak of other people with RESPECT! 👈 😡
Hopefully he can recover the sentimental stuff when this gets publicized.
That's doubtful.
@@peterzebot9863 One never knows, plenty of things have found their way back to the original owner. Of course that is the exception to the rule
if it's just in military news i doubt that many people have heard about this and im sure the storage company knows who bought the items but getting them back from the buyer IF he still has them may be complicated if he's not a reputable person
Who would keep sentimental items such as these?
@old
Yoy don't wanna know....
This judgement will cost them their insurance coverage for sure. Good!
why?
@@contradictorycrow4327 i don't think my storage place has any insurance other than what all buisnesses need. if the place burns i think im responsible for my own insurance. if im not then my whole unit was packed with picassos
This happened to my grandfather's family during WWII. My great uncle came home just in time to win the auction for the family farm, much of their belongings were auctioned off. Twenty years later they found oil on that land.
Thank you for your service...and your property.
I am glad that you did this story. I know of many instances when the military failed to make payment or extent a contract for storage of household goods for a serviceman that is either deployed overseas or has extended their overseas tour.
At $60k, they got off too light.
And the lawyers probably got 2/3 of that. Would be surprised if they ended up with more than 20K.
If someone sold off the furniture that my great grandfather made, I would have gone postal.
@Alfred Pennyworth 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I worked for the collections department for a major cellphone company, and the company didn't do a good job of training people how to deal with this. And they didn't have a place to indicate that a customer is in the military. Oddly enough the training for bankrupt customers was excellent and the steps were very easy.
And some of my mates thought I was mad when I bought my own warehouse, a few of them now pay me for space in it, for stuff they don't want their partners to know about, lol, I've also stored cars for mates in the military for nothing, Rj in Oz
Had a storage place close out their record for my unit. Their record said I closed my account, so they didn’t have anyone to notify, and they just considered all my stuff “abandoned” and sold it to someone. Which they admitted, until they realized they were liable and changed their story. They told the court that “meth-heads” must have cut the locks and cleaned out the unit (swept even!). They couldn’t explain why their records also showed the unit as vacant, though. Refused to tell who they sold the stuff too so that it might be recovered.
Sounds like you had around 20k of very valuable electronics in that storage facility and that they should kindly give you there camera records so you can press charges and investigate who those meth heads were. Betcha it was the owner and his son.
Ben blending in with Steve's medal ribbons, leaning against vacuum tube, behind Unicycle, Steve's RHS
@@eddietucker3334 thinking Right Hand Side
Atleast 1 thing I can agree with you on what you mentioned. That these stories should get more coverage. These people that enter the military deserve thanks from all of us not to be taken advantage of and sell their stuff etc. Thanks to those that have and are serving. Can't thank those people enough.
In addition to what you said, it also brings this to mind for military members and family. With all the other preparation they need to do i can easily see overlooking details here and there, then combine that with being difficult to reach and the odds of something like this happening go up.
If you have the customers Name, dob and ss#, you can pull what’s called an MLA (Military Lending Act) through the Defense Manpower Data Center which will tell you if that person is active. You can print the one page report and keep it with your records. You must have it for lending purposes, but it can be useful in these situations as well. And, it’s free.
I live in a city with an army base and practically every form I’ve ever had to fill out, for any reason, has that language.
Very likely that was evolutionary - didn't exist until the laws protecting service members were violated many times.
I had seen this story from a Boston TV station several days ago. Thought you would like to see the last paragraph in the article : "Father & Son has been the subject of several (WBZ-TV) I-Team investigations over the years and accused of holding customers’ belongings hostage while demanding more money. (Massachusetts) Attorney General Maura Healey took legal action against the company in 2017.
Well Al now she’s running for Gov , times change but history repeating itself .(AG,post goes anyway). Seen it before, watch it again. This is the s
Not enough ! Irreplaceable things
I managed a finance company (a job I loved) in the 70s and 80s. One of the first regulations I learned was the SRA. This company was family-owned and in a relatively small town, so we would not have taken or sold property anyway.
* offer valid only for white Americans...
@@networkedperson Nope, no racism from me. Since you mention it, I guess it is an important issue with you, or you are just trying to start something?
@@ChuckMil some of these people have only ever lived in large cities and have no clue what small town life is like.
@@imnotliketheothernerdsI understand what you are saying, I still don't understand the whites-only remark, it was totally out of line.
@@ChuckMil He thinks he isnt racist but is probably one of the most racist on the board.
I was typing out Service Relief Act as you started to cover it. I am well aware of it because I had to have a cell phone bill dismissed, Sprint did not shut it off after I called them to inform them i was being deployed.
if your plan comes with a new expensive phone as part of the deal do they still need to end the contract when you deploy? that would be a good score.
@@frankyflowers ALL US phone companies must pause your service during any overseas deployment. It is covered in the Law that was discussed. If it is a long term plan you do not get out of the rest of the contract. You just start back where it was paused.
My situation was treated as a default by the company so I was able to get it dismissed in whole including the remainder of the contract.
Let me guess.. they first offered you a discount on an international travel plan?
@@belchris3314 i bet i could talk them into giving me the phone. id probably have my mom do it. lol im not even kidding.
@@frankyflowers Hey, could you get her to somebody for me?
:-D 😁
Having the military question is good, but expecting someone to notify them that they are being deployed is actually unreasonable and could be an issue of security. I got called on a Friday to report for recall on Monday. I was lucky to get a weekend. Not much time to get loose ends wrapped up.
when I went on a 6 month deployment in the Navy, I saw about keeping my things in storage. When I found out how much it would cost, I realized it would be cheaper to throw every thing away and replace it all with new stuff when I got back. I ended putting everything I could in my car and left it the car lot provided by the Navy and anything that couldn't fit went in the garbage.😏
Yeah, Myself personally and sever gents I know of we all did the same thing in preparation for deployment. strange thing was deployment was canceled two days early. That was a rough couple of weeks.
Long-term parking is a joke, had my car broken into.
All of the AF bases I’ve been to had on base storage available for those deployed… I would have thought the navy would have those to since they deploy more than the other services.
@@thomascoolidge2161 it's possible they did have some and I didn't know about it...I honestly didn't even think to ask
@@odbo_One this was on the naval base so probably better security...at least not just anyone could get to it
I was online sometime last year, at the department of motor vehicles, when i overheard the conversation of the lady on line in front of me. Seems her son was deployed to afghanistan, and she was trying to find out how to renew his drivers license. They informed her that his driving priviledges have been suspended in the state of Pennsylvania due to the fact that he never surrendered his license plate when his insurance expired, (apperently his auto insurance lapsed in his absence) so they suspended his drivers license.She told them that he couldn’t keep the paperwork current because he’s in afghanistan fighting a war. They said “it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse. He’s an adult, he should be more responsible. And later added, sorry to hear that…and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it”. Wow. WTF???
The DMV employs some real creepy assholes. Last time I was there I was treated like crap. I could not complain as they have so much power over you to make your life miserable, and they know it. I was getting the REAL ID done and they tried to keep me from getting it...asking for a EYE TEST when that was not even part of the list of requirements. I got it after many many hours there. Real Torture.
next time tell her to contact the federal representitives... they will unleash hell on the state. I did it when I had issues with the county when I was overseas. Kay Baliey set them straight.
Thank you for bringing attention to this.
Went on a 6 month deployment that got extended another 12 months and was living in the on base BAQ paying fees to live there. While on deployment the BAQ management cleared out my private room and disposed of my legally parked vehicle. My deployment orders for the initial 60 days were on the door to the room and in the car but I was unable to update the orders to the additional period. So they disposed of my items. Got nothing from them when I returned to base.
As a person who helps run a small family self-storage business...I appreciate this video. I'll be updating our leases tonight.
But..... I still don't understand why doesn't the lease hold up in court? If the tenant did not inform the owners he was military, and then did not keep up on rent or respond to notices?
I have several units past due about to go auction, should I try (yet again) to get in contact with them or do more intrusive investigating in attempt to find out if any might be military?
Note: Indiana law has little to no laws regarding self-storage rentals. The rental laws we do have are for "dwellings" or residential & commercial properties only.
It's extremely frustrating to have nothing to comply to.
When I enlisted part of basic training was learning of all the federal laws that protect you against this sort of behavior.
This is the very reason why deploying military members need the Power of Attorney. When I served, they stressed to us that we should have one for cases like this. For members who are married, that part is easy as it should be able to be given to the spouse. However, for single members, that can be very difficult because where they are stationed, they may not have a trusted family member or friend where they are currently stationed to take care of their matters for them.
Thank you for reporting this. For every one of these cases that gets reported there are probably hundreds where the service member is taken advantage of. Why? Simple, these places don't care about the law. The likelyhood of a business being fined or held liable is extremely low. Even if they do get money, it's a fraction of the value.
I attend dozens of storage unit auctions every month. I even upload the unboxing videos on another YT channel. I can say that the bigger national storage unit companies triple check their facts before auctioning off a unit. They even will auction a unit and then not award it to the winner if they think there will be a legal problem. The smaller mom & pop facilities usually have no clue what they're doing.
Most of the units I buy are because someone either went to jail or died. The story is usually waiting to be told as the boxes and totes are opened up.
$60,000 hardly seems fair for the compensation in total. In terms of possible emotional distress.
for service medals and hand made furniture from your grandfather, that shit is pennies. either the judge didnt care or was bribed or the system is made this shitty way. but it doesnt make any sense
Fayetteville NC;.... Fayettenam....
@@galactic_socialist Yes, actually, that’s literally what it means.
Service medals have immense value to those who own them. To say anything otherwise is to be disrespectful of human nature; A person sacrificed years of their life doing incredibly dangerous services to get those medals, they are going to value them.
Working for a large mortgage company, we were beating the bushes trying to get info on service members for possible SCRA benefits. The funniest one was one older person getting really upset that he didn't qualify. He made a point of letting us know he was a WWII Vet and it wasn't right he didn't qualify. This is no joke,... turns out he was in the GERMAN army.
I understand the law as you explained it and the contract options to prevent it etc.
My question is Doesbt the service member ALSO gave a responsibility to make sure his bill for the storage unit is paid ?? Seems like this is a great reason to lease the unit ONLY on direct withdrawal terms etc .
That airman should own this storage company 60k will not replace his grandfather’s medals
In Texas, you can't keep photographs, they have to be given to the storage company so they can be forwarded to the owners.
I can find no no such law in Texas property code chapter 59, Self service storage facility liens. When the contents of the storage unit are sold, the buyer owns everything. Sometimes as a courtesy the buyer will bring personal items to the storage facility office and, again as a courtesy, the manager may try to contact the tenant to come retrieve them, but that is not required by law. In my personal experience tenants seldom claim these items because they have long since ceased contact with the storage facility.
I was USN 1960-80 and I remember numerous lectures we attended about our rights as serviceman deployed. I also remember personally when transferred to a new duty station for at least 2 to 4 years, I always got Local registraton and drivers
s licenses for the time I spent in the Local, I have VA ,Tenn, HI, and Florida. I also would register to vote where ever that was. One problems if you are a civilian, If you work in a state, you had to change over. I worked at the NCR plant in Lake Mary Fl. One day the state police checked all cars in the parking lot for local licenes. If they had out of state plates, and a miliarty sticker they passed them by but those with no military sticker got a ticket. My dad work in Industral Electrician and had to sneak around when he worked out of state to not get tickets. Some law is needed to protect those who work in many different states. Expensive to comply with local requirements
The government should have required them to trace down the family heirlooms. That would make $60,000 look cheap.
@@josephhodges9819 The judge can.
@@josephhodges9819 Or threw them out.
@@josephhodges9819 That depends on the ruling they get from the Judge.
@@josephhodges9819 The person that made the purchase might would not be responsible for tracking things any further that would still be the responsibility of the person that sold the stuff illegally.
You hit the individuals that ran the company with grand theft charges and see how fast they can start tracking stuff down.
@@josephhodges9819 Well it can be idnetifed. Plus the theft wound not just be those items it would be everything in the storage locker. the threshold for grand theft is not that high.
But there should have been a list of bidders so that would be where you started tracking, and a reputable auctioneer is going to have records of what everything went for and who purchased it. just to cover their rear if a dispute arises.
Unfortunately, that happened quite often in the mid-2000s to military personnel & families; multi - billion companies involved first said they did not know about the laws ; they later tried to fight it in court, but had to settle quickly because the military legal teams was coming down HARD!!!
Greetings from Fargo. Now that is the best t-shirt. Go Bison!!🤘
Thank you for your service .
People who do this to Service Members need to go to jail. If the bass were smart they would blacklist this business it's a business and tell their service members not to use it.
In Chesapeake, VA a few years ago, a Navy service member had his car sold by a towing company after his apartment complex posted a notice on his door (while he was deployed), saying that the parking lot was going to be repaved and all vehicles must be moved. The Virginian Pilot reported that the apartment complex reimbursed the service member for his loss, but the whole thing could have been prevented by that simple line in the lease agreement.
Good win for the Serviceman!
Depends on the sentimental value of the items. I have things that absolutely no amount of money could replace or make me feel better about the loss.
So, you would take no chances and make sure you set up a process for bill payment even if they know you are deployed. Right?
i also have my grandfathers medals. and if anyone touches those thats not apart of my family. its game over. so i can imagine what that guy is going through with that stuff. i hope he gets that stuff back
I know a army guy had his house condemned because the yard was overgrown. He was deployed and couldn't find someone to keep it up. It was a money grab buy the city to auction the property
I was stationed in San Antonio and one of the things we had for deploying members was a deployment lot. It’s where they can leave their cars while overseas. A few papers to fill out and a file made, kept on the law enforcement desk. Every shift would go and check to make sure the vehicles were safe.
May be put a notice on your belongings like "property of military service man, moving them without court order is crime" As far as I can see that tv shows, they briefly check the unit, seeing such a note avoid bidding people, at least bidders will be properly noted.
Regarding paying sentimental value, paying cash value is not a solution. Bidders must be tracked, storage company must buy back items. Since items are illegally obtained there will be no legal issues. Most business rely on just paying cash and slip from trouble, but if they realize they have to cover all the costs they will not make these mistakes.
Nice idea...shame it won't happen...
Graet video. It is nice to know the government at lease tries to protect service people.
I served 20 years in the Air Force, I was deployed many times and I have to wonder why the airman didn’t pay his storage bill. He was likely at Al Udied AB, Qatar he has access to email, mail and internet. They did violate the law, but even military members should use common sense.
That kind of question WAS on my storage application, so at least some are doing it right.
$60k seems cheap. I hope lawyer fees don't come out of it.
it was the Justice Department that went after the company, so there are no legal costs for the soldier.
Such sellers should be put in prison and forgotten about.
evidently the deadbeat airman forgot to pay his rent, throw him in jail and forget about him.
@@dave8599 Are your parents brother and sister?
Have you heard of the one where an HOA sold the house of someone in the military worth over 300k for less that 2k to recoup some fines while he was deployed?
I'm sure it was sold to someone well known to an individual in the HOA.
@@JohnDoe-qz1ql yep
Oh boy! Let's have some more details please?
I don't have many details I just heard about it from a RUclips channel reading stories from the JustNoHOA subreddit I think
I believe it was one of those states like Texas where an HOA can sell your home to recoup their fines without much legal intervention from the state... they are basically legalised mafia
@@Fuxy22 Yeah the more I hear about HOAs the more I ever wonder why anyone ever joins one. My families personal story, my dad had our house repainted, in its ORIGIONAL color, the HOA said nope we just changed the color scheme and the origional color is no longer on the approved list, repaint it again or loose your house. We went third option, got the neighbors together voted no confidence in the HOA board and replaced them with my dad as the head. First order of buisness origional colors are back on the approved list.
I remember having a car when I went to the army when I came back I had no car to drive cause my father sold it. I discovered that the payments I was sending where being pocketed by my father . I had no chance of getting anything back. I told my daughter it's best not to own anything while she is deployed in the Navy just save up and buy everything when you get out. The military takes care of most things like transportation living place food etc. She didn't listen and got a car and tattoo but it's her life I can't tell her she is wasting money on body art and car payments.
In the movie "Stripes" with Bill Murray, the main characters wanted to run away and hide from their problems by signing up for the military. They pull up in their junky car to the Army Recruitment office, in front of a fire hydrant, they were told "You can't park there!" . "That's all right. We're abandoning it."
Almost happened to me during basic training, on auto pay from my bank to pay for storage. My bank cancelled my debit card(due to breach), couldn't pay bills 4 weeks into basic training, luckily I had family to help out while I was gone.
When i was deployed i had something similar happen to me. I owned a portion of my family's old farm, 50 acres plus or minus. Housing area was put in on either side of me. They had no right of way through my property but ran their access roads right through my front and back yards. They tore down fences which were property markers and put in their own causing me to lose over a third of my property as they squeezed me on 3 sides. I was eventually able to recover my property but my lawyers costs were well in excess of property value.
Guess that's the cost of killing people in their own county... should have stayed home...
@@mattlane2282 yep bc no other groups of ppl throughout human history have done this as well. When the culling come you will be in the 1st batch. BTW If we had no military (you know fighting is what they do) you be getting but plugged by someone speaking another language. Believe me, the rest of the world doesn't live in this fantasy world you wish apon.
I think that is reprehensible. Serving in the military allowed some private companies with government assistance to essentially commit theft. No criticism from here, but why wasn't it possible to get your attorney fees paid as part of the case? I would think that the builders would be liable, and they generally have deep pockets. Thanks for your service anyway, sincerely stated even if I'm a liberal considered to have earned the death penalty for thinking mask and vaccine mandates aren't illegal. Thanks for your reply if you choose to do so.
@@davebeach2343 I had to argue before the county commission to get the roads removed from my property. The county came in and removed the culverts and dirt access roads at no cost to me. They gave the pipes that ran under the road to the owners of the housing areas as they had purchased it. They apologized to me and said they had thought they were not on my property and had been going by a survey provided by the housing area owners.
My property is old, it is a property description and at the time was not surveyed out. It had property markers and a fence. It was completely fenced in. When they tore the fence down while i was away is what allowed their survey to shave off my property. It was a mess AND I was lucky to get my property back. If i had taken them into court and tried to recoup my losses i ran the risk of losing my property which has been in my family for generations.
You should have sure them for use of your PRIVATE PROPERTY, if they do not want to pay, bring up trespassing charges on the company.
I know several people who have suffered personal injuries and/or wrongful death and won sizable awards in court. Each one has said they would give it all back and then some to make it as if never happened.
Fair is fair I had a bank tell me I was ineligible for this when I was deploying. Paid off my loan and never went back to that bank.
Tell your commander.
Smart move getting away from that company. Especially since no bank can invalidate SCRA.
Was it wells Fargo, or bank of America by chance?
I am glad to see these service members get justice. I had the same thing happen to me lost all my belongings and family antiques. Got deployed in the beginning of the war on terrorism when I came back the storage company sold off all my stuff even after being payed. Jag office said I had a case, but said they could help with civil suit. I went to several law firms, but got the run around it was enough money for them to get involved. I felt hurt and pissed off I served did what I had to do for my country, and I get a big FU upon my return.
This rips me. When my WWI (survivor) grandfather passed away, the wife of my father's brother sneakingly took his medals. I can't say how, but the medals were brought back to the family.
My family members from the time period all served and tons of stuff was brought back state side and someone on my dads side stole it all and sold it for drugs
The fact they even have to fight in court, after thus, proves lawyers are a joke.
at least the u.s. is crystal clear about the particular special rights of American servicemen and women.
Surprised it wasn’t more than $60k given the value of the irreplaceable items.
That's why when your in business you don't cheap out and hire a good attorney like you! Common sense is few and far between now a days Steve!!
A question that was not answered was how did servicemember arrange payment? When I was in, it was very simple to go to the dispersing clerk's office and arrange an automatic allotment to the storage company for the amount of the rent. If you were smart you did this because even in peaceful times, a deployment can get hectic and you won't always be able to write the check. If the storage company was smart, they'd ask for an allotment to be set up.
Oh god I hope the buyer does the right thing after hearing this story.
Doubtful...
Most of the people that buy storage units toss stuff that won't make them money. It probably ended up in the dump.
Love the NDSU shirt Go Bison! Great post it is a shame to lose such sentimental items🙁 not to mention the time and paperwork to get any compensation,
Thank you again Steve for making it known that are service men and women are being abused.
Way to "thank you for your service !!"
I really hope this guy can get his family heirlooms back. I can’t imagine this happening to me. I’m infuriated just hearing about it.
When I served in the Army during the '70's we called these the "Soldier and Sailors Act" as shorthand for these protections which you described. We may have misunderstood what they were but that was what we called them.
Grew up in mass. Glad i left years ago
I have a close friend who lives in So. Calif. and has been evacuated from their home a few times due to fires. I asked them what do they take when they have to leave right away....Their answer came very quickly - Their pets and photographs and other mementos. Being from Michigan, I never even thought of photos and other things like that.
So, while other peopls photos don't mean much to you or I, they do mean a lot to the owners...
Absolutely heartbreaking, I bet that everyday he is fighting the urge to go and harm them.
I believe when an auction occurs, there is some type of data collected of the buyer. Usually you have to reguster at an auction and get a number, then they know what number purcahsed the unit and paid them. They should be able to track down the buyer. Of course if he's thrown away the memoriabilia he's out of luck. Plus most people going to auctions are resellers so it's likely his stuff was resold, like the furtniture. Sad.
is it illegal to refuse to take service members for storage tenants?
Yes.
So who could possibly be the ones that dislike this law? Just crazy
Man, the inventory tells me 60k was a deal. A lot of that just isn’t replaceable.
I hope the guy get his stuff, so if anyone who bought his stuff. Please return it and be the hero
When I served in the Navy I had every payment set up for auto payment through my Command. I knew I couldn't depend on sending checks due to long deployments where I had very limited postal access. I personally think both parties are at fault.
your quick that just made news
Now a funny story is when a repo-man drives on base and try's to repo a car. YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE! Just a car thief found knocked out in a parking lot after midnight.
That happened in Charleston, pier 4 parking. They knew which boats were on deployment. He was retired air force stealing batteries and tires. He got beat up pretty bad.
One line, two boxes is a place to start. If they check yes then there should be a place that the renter would put his local military address.
When I was in the Army we filled out military's post office forwarding order. I once got told late in the afternoon to be at the military base airport @ 7 AM the next morning with my gear and I was shipping out albeit, it was a temporary duty assignment, no time to call anyone. I did use the Postal service to notify people and businesses plus my unit asked what I wanted done with my mail. I put in a change of address from my civilian address to my base address when doing any extended period of time.
When I was in boot camp way back in 1980 I remember being taught pretty extensively about the Soldiers and Sailors Act put into place at the end or or right after WW2 because of stuff like this.
As to the contract, add lines requesting the military member give them their base, unit, and CO. They could then contact them if any issues arise including non-payment.
You also need to account for Reservists, who while the moving contract is signed, may not be on Active Duty; but then get activated and deployed. Further, the deployment may be classified, which would prohibit the Service Member from notifying anyone of their deployment.
Nope. It would prohibit them from saying anything about where, why, and how but merely saying that they are going to be deployed isn't classified or at the very least I have never heard of it being classified.
I was stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB and had all of my stuff sold including my new car. The courts said tough . I wasn't behind in storage payments either. They just made a boo boo.but i was the one that lost everything.
When storing stuff in the unit, just put a massive sign in the unit that states you are military. Then, when the unit is opened to be auctioned, everyone can see that they have to check for court orders.
I like that, my storage rent was paid while on deployments, so I was okay.
We need to do more for people that have been violated in such a way 😢
You can rent a storage unit and not be in the military then a week later join the military so the question of military status isn't bullet proof.
Then it's up to you to get the information of your enlistment to them and set up a new contract with the proof. The military do give you time before reporting for basic to "get your affairs in order" so get your shit together.
I'm a veteran from many years ago but I know some who were not allowed to tell anyone they were being deployed. This happens if it is a unit move or the unit is on a special assignment (think 101st Airborne, 82nd Airborne, Special Forces, SEALS, etc.). Others who could be moved very rapidly were in Intelligence or had special assignments. In all of these cases, the nearest military post could be contacted and the Staff Legal Office/SJA would be able to assist the person who had the items in storage. Also, many times the military will pay for the storage! When I was assigned overseas my stuff was put into storage and the Army paid for the storage plus 90 days after I returned.
When I was in the army my wonderful mother sold my car and I didn't get the surprise until I got home it was a 1970 Torino GT
Ouch!
351 Cleveland, or 429 Cobra Jet ..?
Oh man
Mr. Lehto may be one of the very few lawyers who gives out free legal advice.