What kind of vultures go to these auctions?

When my dad died we could no longer afford our house, so my mother had to put some of our belongings in storage. It started out at one price and eventually tripled. My mother was struggling just to pay for a roof over our heads. The monthly payments for the locker were now almost 300 dollars each month.My mom got sick and lost her job and  I am just a kid so all we had to live on was widow and orphans pensions. We got behind but still making payments and then the facility was purchased by (Removed) storage and after three phonecalls to tell us we owed money, they decide to auction off  our belongings. We offered to pay what we have now, but they won't stop the auction with half the amount they want so much money plus an additional month's rent that they are calling a lein fee.

What kind if vultures go to these auctions where they delight in taking someone else's memories and keepsakes.

(Removed) storage and the auctions they do are perverse. The way they treat people is a sin.

there are going to be "vultures" in almost any type of occupation.  Banker forecloses on houses, farmer uses pesticides and GMOs and get a bigger harvest, executives make too much ...etc.

Your mother had the opportunity to get certain things out before it went to auction.  The second you are sweating coming up with the fee get your but their and get some of it out.  Then let it go to auction.  If she didn't have room she could have taken out the keepsakes and gotten the smaller locker they have which wouldn't have gone over the 100 a month that she could afford.

I understand your frustrations, but you must understand that people that purchase units at auction do it to stock their stores, earn supplemental income, and for the pleasure of the treasure hunt.  Most of the time we don't know the story of why the unit has been foreclosed on, although we sometimes can put the pieces together during the unload process after it is purchased.  Some of the stories are sad like yours, but it's a reality of life. 

I'm not sure what state your in, but you should get all personal belongings such as pictures and personal paperwork back (state laws). The facilities are businesses that need to auction units to stay afloat, it's a key part of they're business model.  Since you're not paying the rent and falling behind, they need someone that will.

You're going to have to move on and not take out your frustrations on the person who bought your unit or people that do this for a living / hobby.

What kind if vultures go to these auctions where they delight in taking someone else's memories and keepsakes.

Gee I don't know! What kind of people think they're entitled to store items at a storage facility on commercial property for free? The people that own that property have to pay their taxes, employee expenses, insurance, etc. You seem to be able to own a computer and access the internet just fine for 'just being a kid.' Everyone is living off pensions for free over your way and now you think you're entitled to free storage. Grow up, this is how the world works, pay your way or lose it.

We "Vultures" do feel bad....initially. And there are lots of cases where people lose their units through circumstances that they can't change. After doing it for a while though you come to the conclusion that the vast majority of people that lose their belongings are storing a huge amount of worthless stuff. Sure there are valuables mixed in but if the owners took the time to pick out the important stuff (photos, jewelry, family treasures ...) and got rid of the crap (old furniture, boxes of magazines, old clothes ...) they would not need to rent a unit or maybe instead of a 10x25 for $300 a month they could have rented a little closet size for $75 a month and held onto the important stuff. People need to take a reality check and purge the stuff they don't need. 

I felt bad once ... the room was filled with boxes of childrens artwork spanning a decade, their photo albums, keepsakes ..etc.  I asked the facility manager for their information to send it back and they wouldn't give it to me .. privacy and all. I told them I would just leave it all in the room because it was too much for the office and they said no.. it all goes we don't have the space.

 I looked their name up but their number wasn't working.  I went through the entire room looking for something and I finally found an address book and called one of their friends who gave me their new number. 

The woman basically told me "throw it out they're growns now anyway"  I asked again and she said stop harassing me or I'll call the cops.  I hung up and threw it out.

That was the first and last time I'll go out of my way other than leaving the personal stuff at the office.

I do feel bad for your mothers circumstances.  But she entered into a contract and defaulted.
The facility is in business to make a profit off renting storage space.   If your mother isn't paying then what are they to do?  They need that unit emptied to rent to someone else.

Now, they can just donate goods to charity.  This means you still loose your belongings and still owe. Then you have collections, interest, bad credit......
Or they auction it off, in which case, we are paying off, partially paying off or in some cases paying off AND you make some money.

I don't know anyone in my crowd that won't give back "memories" beyond the personal stuff unless that "memory" item is high value......in which case, your mother could have sold it herself and paid her debts.

I've run into people that have said "oh...that was my grandmas....."
Hey, it's life. You do what you have to.  If you value possession of a material object over selling it to pay your debts or putting food on the table you need to examine your priorities.  I personally don't own anything I wouldn't sell to take care of my family and pay my obligations.

I was at an auction once that this man and wife were giving a sob story, didn't have money to pay for unit. I found out they had a $50 unit.  Were only into facility for an out $200. In the unit was a set of big'ol swamper tires on rims.  Totally would have paid off debt, plus had extra, plus wouldn't of needed unit anymore since the tires took up 75% of it.   Then on top of it, I saw them later at a Red Robin chain smoking (yeah, this was way back when) drinking and eating.   I know I can't get out of RR for less than $30 with out drinks.  So they can't pay $200 bill but can smoke, drink and eat out?

You see this enough and any guilt you had vanishes.  Situations like your mothers are rare.


Also, think of it this way.
If you had a house and a friend lost his place and you let him put all his stuff in your garage and after several months, he hasn't paid a dime yet your paying a power bill to heat the garage so his stuff is safe,  another person says to you: I'll give you $300/month to let me store my stuff in your garage......

How long before you asked the first one to get his stuff out?

So back to the question above, Jimmy.   How should the facility handle defaults? 

So back to the question above, Jimmy.   How should the facility handle defaults? 

He made his post, left and hasn't been back online here since. I suspect he was just a troll with a made up story, or just looking for a place to vent over losing his porn collection. In either case, his style of writing is not consistent with being "just a kid", but rather someone quite a bit older.