Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Thank-you Mr Whipple and Ladevaia, Your answers are at the bottom.

I need a little extra help please.

An additional fact regarding my situation (below):

* The person I loaned the money to will not be able to accompany me to the storage unit, he moved out of state and the storage unit is quite a distance from me. Therefore, I need to do everything with him (who I loaned the money to) via mail and e-mail and work with the storage unit owner via phone, mail and e-mail.

2nd Que: That being said, what legal paperwork and step-by-step process do you recommend so I can legally pay off his storage unit fees, legally have ownership of all the items in his storage unit, switch his storage unit contract to my name and then have access to the things in his storage unit.

I don't want to make things more complicated then they are but, don't I need some type of Power of Attorney that's notarized so the storage unit owner doesn't give me any crap and us a Bill of Sale (for a penny) in order to get the items in storage or even some type of Assignment of some sort?

First Que:

CA Storage Unit Que Please:

* I have a family friend who owes me money.

* He doesn't have the money to pay me but, he said he has a storage unit with many valuables in it and he will "give it" to me to repay the loan.

* Problem: he states that he's behind on the monthly rental fees (it figures right?)

* He's received some legal notices stating that he's behind on payments but, it hasn't been legally confiscated yet and has not gone to auction.

* He states that there are plenty of items in his unit (tools, furniture, antiques, collectibles etc) for me to sell and pay his late fees and give me plenty of money to get my loan amount back plus some extra.

Question Please:

* I don't have any more trust in this person and I would like to take him up on his offer and get his storage unit and see if I can sell the items to get my cash back.

* What step-by-step process should I use here?

* I believe I need to "beat" a deadline to get this done right?

* What forms should I use to do this? Power of Attorney? Bill of Sale? Assignment Form?

* I have enough money to pay whatever he owes but, how do I accomplish this since the rental unit is in his name. Plus I want and need everything to be legal and legitimate so I have the legal right to pay the fees owed and then legally get into his unit and get the stuff in his rental unit. I don't want to be accused of stealing by him at a later date.

* This sounds a little tricky so any suggestions or feedback you could give would be really helpful!

Please point me in the right direction!

Thanks

Generous "Banker"

Here's one possibility:

Get it all in writing first, the whole procedure. Then, on a day when each of you has sufficient time, drive to the storage place in your vehicle. You pay the storage fees and keep the receipt, but you appear together in front of the resident manager who accepts the fees. Explain that you have bought the contents and that the renter/former owner is with you to assist in carrying out the delivery. Then the two of you go to the locker and unload it into your car, working together, and making at least a rough inventory including an agreed guesstimate of value by item.

You don't need to completely unload the locker; just get enough to cover the new indebtedness total, including the rent, with a comfortable safety margin. When you're done, have him initial the inventory, then take him home or back to his car.

Sell the stuff in a commercially-reasonable manner, and keep records. When you're paid off, including your costs and expenses, send him a final accountung and return anything you didn't have to sell.

An alternative is to tell him, "Sorry, the loan was cash and repayment has to be cash."

Bryan Whipple

Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

P O Box 318

You should start with an inventory of the property in storage.

To do this you'll probably have to pay the back due storage fees to gain access.

You'll probably need your debtor to accompany you or give you a letter advising the storage manager of permission to enter his unit.

Once you gain access, inventory the items and transfer the storage locker to your name.

I don't believe you need any special paperwork for this. Just ask the storage manager.

Once the property is in your possession, do with it as you please

Including getting a signed release from your debtor to all the property.

Good luck.

Philip Iadevaia

Law Offices of Philip A. Iadevaia

12100 Wilshire Blvd., Eighth Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90025


Asked on 9/14/11, 1:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Maybe, then, you need to develop an acceptable storage-unit access arrangement jointly with the manager and the debtor. One way to do this might be via a conference call. The manager can speak with the debtor separately, before or after, to verify who he is talking with; he probably has the debtor's phone number or other ways to verify with whom he's speaking. Promptly after you work out an arrangement for you to get access, go there, pay the rent, and empty the unit, at least of enough stuff to cover your loan and the rent. The sooner you go, the less likely the manager will change, or forget, and the lower the rent bill. Take a camera and photograph the undisturbed interior of the unit and each major article you remove.

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Answered on 9/14/11, 1:47 pm


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