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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Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2022 12:53 PM
From: Kristy Breaux
Subject: Has your facility been impacted by lock pickers?
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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