Is it a good idea to buy units when video doesnt show cutting of lock?
Our advice is to only bid on what you can see in the pictures and videos and not on what might be in the unit. That way the lock cut or not doesn’t matter so much. You get what you see in the video, and anything else is a bonus.
We do try to encourage our vendors to record the lock cut but this isn’t always possible depending on the way they handle auctions, and depending on the physical door itself. What some facilities do is cut the lock immediately when the tenant is overdue, and replace it with their own master lock. This prevents the tenant from tailgating someone through the facility gate, and grabbing everything of value from their unit leaving the garbage behind and never settling their debts.
The problem is, they typically don’t film the unit for auction at this time because the auction process doesn’t happen for another 4 or 5 months, after many registered letters, and attempts to contact the tenant and request payment. This is why often the lock cut is not part of the video.
In some cases facilities have special doors that have two slots for locks. So instead of cutting the tenants lock immediately they just put their own lock in the second spot. This still prevents the tenant from accessing their unit. In these cases you will often see the lock cut included in the video.
Hope this helps!
-Adrian
Thank you so much😊I have a much better understanding nowSent from my Bell Samsung device over Canada’s largest network.
I am curious if its allowed for staff to enter the lockers while taking videos or pictures or walking through or into a locker before taking pictures. Making it look like the door was opened when the video started. Not before
Hi coinedminer,
It depends on location. Some states have much more defined storage lien acts than others. In Canada there is no storage lien act at all, so technically the facility manager may enter the unit while filming if they want too. Also we have heard requests for both scenarios now, some buyers want the managers to enter and take more upload and detailed pictures, other buyers abhor it. So because of this, our policy is closely affixed to the state lien laws.
Hope this helps!
-Adrian