“Renters rights for in building storage units”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Tim Brown

“Dear PoPville,

Was hoping somebody in the community could help out here. I am in the middle of moving out of my apartment building (older small building with no onsite building management) and noticed the items in my storage unit are gone. Each apartment gets a space and there is no fee for it and its basically a large wooden shelf with chicken wire so you can lock your stuff up. The kicker here is that I may have used the wrong specific space (because I wasn’t sure which was mine at the time I moved in) – but seeing as there was one available I assumed. At one point the building sent out an email asking if anyone may be using a space that was not theirs and I replied that it was likely me. I never heard back and assumed that meant everything was ok.

Fast forward – I go down for the first time in several months to complete my move out and notice my items are no longer there and have been replaced by someone elses stuff.

Admittedly, I should have been a little more proactive but I assumed there would be more communication if the items were going to be thrown out.

My question is – does anyone know how/if DC renters rights apply to a storage unit and disposal of property by the landlord?

I have reached out and hope to hear back, but they can be slow and I’m trying to gather info. Really hoping to locate this stuff as it contains many items of high sentimental value.”