On June 13, 2016, I wrote an article about Mr. Martin Juarez. To recap, his family’s storage locker at the storage unit facility known as Storage One was auctioned off without his knowledge because of miscommunication during a move crosstown. He discovered that his family’s possessions were sold off when he went to pay the bill after he noticed that the automatic payment withdrawals from his bank were no longer being deducted for payment of the unit. The belongings were intended to be passed down to his children and grandchild. Recently, the Juarez family settled out of court.
According to Mr. Juarez: “We had to take the minimum of the small claims court in Missouri. The lawyer we talked to said that the contract with the storage [company] only pays up to that [certain]amount.”
Mr. Juarez wasn’t looking for a big financial windfall anyway. “It was the personal belongings that we wanted back,” he admits. Their family possessions included about 15 boxes of comic books that Mr. Juarez has collected since the 1980s. Books that his youngest child cherished and looked forward to owning one day.
He hopes that others will learn from his misfortune and that others will heed his advice when it comes to storage units : “Write down everything that you have going into your storage unit and log it. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. Find out the value of each item that you have and keep it updated each month.” When asked if he would ever use a self-storage unit facility again Mr. Juarez answered he would. “…I would get another storage unit if need be. I’ve learned the hard way on what to do.”
This quote is from the original article published in June of this year. The article is attached below in its entirety. We understand that some possessions are replaceable while others are not, so we thank Mr. Juarez and his family for sharing their heartbreaking story with us. We wish them better times in their new home and greater memories for many years to come.