SSA Blog

Dealing with abandoned items left by a former tenant or items that an auction buyer failed to clear out following a sale is an unfortunate reality for all storage owners. The manager must then dispose of those items at their time and expense. However, not all discarded items are the same. Some are just a mild nuisance; others are more than that.

We have heard with increasing frequency about unlawful tire dumping at storage facilities. The typical scenario looks like this: an individual rents a unit, generally under a fake name. That individual then comes to the facility, usually after hours, with a truck filled with unusable tires. The unit is filled floor-to-ceiling with tens or hundreds of tires. Some scammers have even figured out the exact pattern to maximize the number that can fit. Then that individual immediately stops paying rent on the unit. Now, it is the facility’s problem.

This type of activity is incentivized by market realities. It is much more costly to dispose of those tires in a lawful manner—usually several dollars per tire—than it is to simply rent a unit and make those tires the problem of the storage facility. We have heard from some operators that the cost for the facility to lawfully dispose of those tires can be several thousand dollars, for just one unit.

To be honest, there is not an easy fix to this problem. However, the SSA is trying to find some solutions. To that end, we have started a dialogue with the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association to see if there is an opportunity to work collaboratively to find answers.

To address the issue most effectively, it is most helpful to fully understand the scale of the problem. If you have experienced this type of illegal dumping at your facility, please contact the SSA at legal@selfstorage.org.