Shopping carts in unit

[DairyGirl]

Found 3 Publix shopping carts in a unit this morning. I rented this unit to a homeless guy and I knew he was using the carts to bring stuff to his unit, but had no idea he actually put them inside. I cut the lock this morning in prep for lien notice (no surprise there) and saw them. He was also storing food, ugh. Bread, soda, various candy pkgs, along with all the empty assorted candy wrappers and soda cans. Unit smells "dead", so likely dead rodent(s) and/or rotting food buried in the unit under all the trash bags full of crap. I'm going to have go into the unit to try to remove as much food as I can find, I certainly can't leave it there.

[KrisinCali]

ewwww. You should remove the carts too as they belong to Publix and not to your tenant.

[RHS_TX]

Did you know he was homeless when you rented him the unit?

[DairyGirl]

ewwww. You should remove the carts too as they belong to Publix and not to your tenant.

I will. I'm going to call them and see if they want to send someone over to pick them up.

[DairyGirl]

Did you know he was homeless when you rented him the unit?

Yes, I was 99% sure he was at the time of rental. I've rented to homeless in the past and I'm sure I will again in the future. They don't all cause problems or issues, but none of them have ever vacated their unit on their own. They've either been terminated or gone to auction.

[RHS_TX]

Wouldn't the Publix carts be considered stolen property? That would be my green light for immediate termination of his lease.

[lady5563]

Shopping carts found in a storage unit is stolen property.

At my grocery store it say's right on the cart that it is illegal to take it off the premises.

[DairyGirl]

Hmmm, hadn't thought of that. I wonder how they'll handle that?? Or do I call the police?? I guess just call the local store and let them handle it??
Tenant hasn't been here since the morning of 3/20 when he came in shortly after 6am and loaded up a car with stuff from the unit and left. I've been waiting for him to hit the 30 days late mark so I could cut the lock and send him a lien notice.

[KrisinCali]

Nah, not the police, just call the store and let them know. They usually have a guy who drives a truck around and rounds up random carts.

[DairyGirl]

Nah, not the police, just call the store and let them know. They usually have a guy who drives a truck around and rounds up random carts.

Oh, ok.

[DairyGirl]

Well, an employee from Publix was here on Tuesday to pick up the carts. When I told him they had been used by a homeless person to haul their stuff around, he said the carts would likely be "sent back" and not used at the store. Now I just have to wait til sale day to be able to dump the unit contents into the dumpster.

[Storman]

Yes, I was 99% sure he was at the time of rental. I've rented to homeless in the past and I'm sure I will again in the future. They don't all cause problems or issues, but none of them have ever vacated their unit on their own. They've either been terminated or gone to auction.

DairyGirl, none of them cause problems or issues but they've all been terminated or gone to auction? Sounds to me like they've ALL caused problems or issues. At the very least they've cost you money. What do you consider a problem or issue?

[DairyGirl]

So I got a weird phone call regarding this tenant. An "alleged" attorney, calling from a Texas area code, said he was calling on behalf of "someone" but not in an official, legal capacity. The name that came up on my caller ID did match to an attorney in the Dallas-Ft Worth area. He was asking questions about what happens with unit contents if the tenant is 2 months late with their payment. Is it auctioned? Thrown away? I told him the basics; the lien notice goes to the address we have on file and payment must be cash or money order. If no payment it goes to auction, if no bidders it gets tossed or rolled over to the next auction if it's not trash. I also mentioned that most tenants who actually want their stuff either come in or call to find out what they need to do, even though it's all spelled out in the notice. Kinda sounds like my tenant is unable to do either. When I told him no one gets access until it's paid, he stated that he didn't think the tenant would be "able to get down there to do that". Ok. I asked if the tenant was not in Florida and he kind of glossed over it without answering. When I again said it needs to be paid before anyone can access it, he again said "I don't think he can get to Florida to do that". I asked if the tenant was even in Florida and his response was "I can neither confirm nor deny that". Interesting. So then he asks if someone with a POA could access it and I told him that based on his questioning, I wasn't going to allow anyone but the tenant to access the unit at this time. He then said he might call back later with more questions.
So, my tenant is not in Florida, might be in Texas, and has someone claiming to be an attorney calling me for information. It sounds like he might be in jail but I can't find any record of arrests in Texas and he has none in Florida. The whole thing is very weird, almost as if maybe there's something in the unit he really wants/needs. Hmmm. If he calls back, he will be told that if someone with a POA wants access to this unit, I want it in person, not emailed or faxed, and unit must be paid in full. I'm also going to terminate the lease because of all the food that was in the unit. Ick.

[Storman]

yeah, sounds like he's in jail. Might be some evidence of something in that unit. Make sure you log this conversation.

[DairyGirl]

yeah, sounds like he's in jail. Might be some evidence of something in that unit.

My thoughts exactly, but why not just tell me?? He wouldn't be the first and certainly won't be the last.