Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Tennessee
Who's liable?
A storage unit we were renting was broken into. We adhered to the contract which stated if the unit wasn't adequetely secured that the owner was not liable. Only our unit was hit and the security camera that was pointed at it had a shirt thrown over it by the thief.
We had a good, strong lock on the unit, and it appears that the thieves made off with it as well as with a large amount of personal and business items.
We filed a report with the police but we feel that not much will be done on it and we feel it is the fault of the owner since he was the one who found the unit broken into and ''replaced'' the lock withou (he says) looking into it.
Is he liable? If so, how do we procede?
The amount of items taken runs into the thousands of dollars. Much of it was adult material to be sold at ebay, so the expectation of future profit was also a factor.
I konw this is long, but I felt there were many pertinent points to cover. Also stolen were collector dolls, and collector stuffed animals along with personal items (pictures, keepsakes).
Thanks for your help if you can give it,
R.--name removed--
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Who's liable?
The contract controls the liability. You've waived liability on the owner by agreeing that you are required to secure the building.
You could argue, I suppose, that his failure to notify you when he found the unit unsecured, and his subsequent failure to check his video tapes for the perpetrator were negligent, but I don't know how much that gets you because essentially you would have to prove that but for his failure to notice the break in, your material would have been returned.
If the material is also "adult material" and the issue comes before a jury, that also presents an interesting question of how people in the bible belt will react to your items being stolen. My guess is that in TN, you'll find an unsympathetic jury.
You should file a claim on your insurance. If the materials were your personal property (not used for business) then you should be able to get relief under your homeowners policy (even though the break in didn't happen at your home) because it covers your goods no matter where they are.
However, if the goods were goods used for business purposes and if those goods were not covered by a separate business policy, your homeowners probably has an exclusion that negates coverage.
You can pursue the owner of the storage unit in small claims court, but my guess is that the judge would rule against you on the basis of the contract, and find that the landlord had no duty to safeguard your property other than the reasonable steps he took (e.g., using security cameras).
I know this probably is not what you wanted to hear, but I hope it is helpful.
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