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  • 1.  Has your facility been impacted by lock pickers?

    Posted 03-07-2022 12:54 PM

    We were recently contacted by a media outlet in Houston regarding a new type of break-in that seems to be happening more frequently in the self-storage industry. Burglars are picking locks, stealing items from storage units, and then replacing the locks so it looks as if no suspicious activity has occurred. Because there are no physical signs of a break-in (marks of forcible entry or exit) insurance companies have been denying tenants' claims.

    Have you experienced this type of break in at your facility and/or have you taken any additional preventative measures?

    This blog from Storelocal has some great tips on added security to help combat this.

    Houston News Story 

    Austin News Story



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    Kristy Breaux
    Deputy Executive Director
    Texas Self Storage Association, Inc.
    Round Rock TX
    (512) 374-9089
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  • 2.  RE: Has your facility been impacted by lock pickers?

    Posted 03-24-2022 10:33 AM
    I have experienced a similar situation when locks were cut and replaced with new locks.  It was hard to track down the exact date of the theft since these units were still locked during manager walk through checks.  Motion detectors in units with an alarm that sounds are a great option we have used.  There are also many products available that will notify the tenant or manager of motion in a unit.  This is the same idea as having a keypad and motion detector in your home.  Good luck everyone!

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    J.D. Blacklock
    Blacklock Storage, LLC
    Fort Worth TX
    (254) 717-0229 (cell)
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  • 3.  RE: Has your facility been impacted by lock pickers?

    Posted 03-25-2022 11:38 AM
    We have had this happen before and luckily the correct tenant happened to come by a few days later so we were able to run back the video footage and knew who it was. Unfortunately we weren't the first people this team had done this to. They rented the unit online with an ID of a deceased individual, came in after the office closed, used a selfie stick to see what units they wanted in, and then cut the lock and replaced it with their own. Because the original tenant came by so quickly and noticed, we were able to catch everything within the last week including the first day they rented the unit. We gave all the footage to the police, denied the tenant's access. We have thought about the lock stickers because of this but have not implemented them. For online rentals we keep an extra close eye on them now. We try to get them to come in the office and submit their IDs (even if they have emailed them) to verify that they are the correct person. We are in the process of installing some of the motion detector devices now as well.

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    Terri Wood
    District Manager
    Ideal Self Storage
    Waco TX
    (254) 301-4071
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