If a storage locker location sales your property and all of your personal records were stored in it, does the personal papers containing your social security numbers, id's and stuff be made available to get back? ...

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If a storage locker location sales your property and all of your personal records were stored in it, does the personal papers containing your social security numbers, id's and stuff be made available to get back?

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

 
It can get pretty complicated, when you deal with issues of storage, the foreclosure on stored property, and if there was a bailment. Here’s why: (1) You have at least two different sets of claims that might apply (negligence versus contract) and (2) You may have a choice to get into either a federal or a state court. Based on what you’ve described so far, it looks as though there is only a Texas state court law claim. It is possible, depending on other facts in the case (your having residency in another state than Texas and the claimed damage amount), that you may have a federal lawsuit. Getting legal help will be crucial because of these important choices. Getting that help as soon as possible can also prevent any further risks and show your effort to limit damages if the release of your property was negligent.
 
You can try to get affordable help from Texas legal aid, for people with fixed or low income: http://texaslawhelp.org/. If you don’t meet the income requirements of legal aid, your case may be of interest to a Texas Pro Bono lawyer, who volunteers his time through the Texas Bar: http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section =Can_t _Afford_a_Lawyer_. In the same way, a Texas law school clinic might find your claim to be unique…such as UT’s program, here: http://www.utexas.edu/law/clinics/. Finally, there is also something called the “Texas Privacy project,” funded by the Texas Law Project: http://www.tlsc.org/texas-legal-services-center/.
 
A federal lawsuit is more complicated and (usually) costly to bring, but there are also more “rights” and better chances of higher damages if you win. However, since you want to try and get the property (or identifying data) back, you’ll look mostly at Texas law.
 
Bailment Law in Texas
 
As mentioned, the general area of bailment law (if it applies) means you will use Texas statutes. This is because there are very specific rules about what to do with property that is held in storage. Even if you should get into a federal court, that court will probably apply Texas bailment law anyway.
 
What duties did the storage owner have to you, and did he meet those duties?
 
Here’s a court case, describing the four basic restrictions, to see if there really was “bailed” property: (1) delivery of your personal property from one person to another for a specific purpose; (2) acceptance of that delivery; (3) an agreement that the “purpose” will be fulfilled; (4) understanding that property has to be returned to you. http://caselaw. findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1024537.html. This case is also useful because it describes a rental agreement, obviously written to protect the storage unit owner from being sued for bailment. Compare the wording of the lease there, with your lease.
 


  • “Replevin”

 
Asking for a return of your property can be done under some circumstances: it’s tough, though. I’d suggest you look at how many of the laws are influenced by a large group of Texas storage unit owners: http://www.txssa.org/. Especially, look at the new Texas self-storage lease used by many of the unit owners… http://www.txssa.org/news/member-alerts/2011/10/31/get-ready-to-start-using-the-new-tssa-lease. By seeing how the landlords are advised to protect themselves, you can see if any mistakes were made in your case.
 
To show damages in this case, you should be able to show the unit owner had reason to know he had a duty to protect that data, and he disregarded it.
 
Federal Law
 
The federal law about loss of privacy in bailment cases is moving ahead more quickly than most state laws. Right now, there are two general areas of rights for someone who may have a claim for loss of data in a bailment case. A lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shows some important aspects of bailment…including the fact that “bailment” comes in several forms, and does not have to last very long to create a duty to take care of important material, including data.
 
In the TSA case, there was a claim of theft by a TSA employee. The federal court noted that a lawsuit for bailment had two different “theories.” First, breach of bailment based on negligence. If there was no evidence of negligence, then the person whose property was lost could try and sue under a breach of contract theory. The federal court said the injured party had to choose between either negligent bailment OR breach of contract. Here’s the Williams case: http://www.rbh.com/files/Publication/c9e0d992-fb34-416b-a780-e37c18730725/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/2c9e07cb-dbb8-4fe7-b7f5-f553532b5707/WLJ_Bryan-Conley_PrivacyDevelopments%20_9-21-12.pdf. The bottom line for you will be based on what your contract said, and if you received lawful notice of foreclosure.

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

 
It can get pretty complicated, when you deal with issues of storage, the foreclosure on stored property, and if there was a bailment. Here’s why: (1) You have at least two different sets of claims that might apply (negligence versus contract) and (2) You may have a choice to get into either a federal or a state court. Based on what you’ve described so far, it looks as though there is only a Texas state court law claim. It is possible, depending on other facts in the case (your having residency in another state than Texas and the claimed damage amount), that you may have a federal lawsuit. Getting legal help will be crucial because of these important choices. Getting that help as soon as possible can also prevent any further risks and show your effort to limit damages if the release of your property was negligent.
 
You can try to get affordable help from Texas legal aid, for people with fixed or low income: http://texaslawhelp.org/. If you don’t meet the income requirements of legal aid, your case may be of interest to a Texas Pro Bono lawyer, who volunteers his time through the Texas Bar: http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section =Can_t _Afford_a_Lawyer_. In the same way, a Texas law school clinic might find your claim to be unique…such as UT’s program, here: http://www.utexas.edu/law/clinics/. Finally, there is also something called the “Texas Privacy project,” funded by the Texas Law Project: http://www.tlsc.org/texas-legal-services-center/.
 
A federal lawsuit is more complicated and (usually) costly to bring, but there are also more “rights” and better chances of higher damages if you win. However, since you want to try and get the property (or identifying data) back, you’ll look mostly at Texas law.
 
Bailment Law in Texas
 
As mentioned, the general area of bailment law (if it applies) means you will use Texas statutes. This is because there are very specific rules about what to do with property that is held in storage. Even if you should get into a federal court, that court will probably apply Texas bailment law anyway.
 
What duties did the storage owner have to you, and did he meet those duties?
 
Here’s a court case, describing the four basic restrictions, to see if there really was “bailed” property: (1) delivery of your personal property from one person to another for a specific purpose; (2) acceptance of that delivery; (3) an agreement that the “purpose” will be fulfilled; (4) understanding that property has to be returned to you. http://caselaw. findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1024537.html. This case is also useful because it describes a rental agreement, obviously written to protect the storage unit owner from being sued for bailment. Compare the wording of the lease there, with your lease.
 


  • “Replevin”

 
Asking for a return of your property can be done under some circumstances: it’s tough, though. I’d suggest you look at how many of the laws are influenced by a large group of Texas storage unit owners: http://www.txssa.org/. Especially, look at the new Texas self-storage lease used by many of the unit owners… http://www.txssa.org/news/member-alerts/2011/10/31/get-ready-to-start-using-the-new-tssa-lease. By seeing how the landlords are advised to protect themselves, you can see if any mistakes were made in your case.
 
To show damages in this case, you should be able to show the unit owner had reason to know he had a duty to protect that data, and he disregarded it.
 
Federal Law
 
The federal law about loss of privacy in bailment cases is moving ahead more quickly than most state laws. Right now, there are two general areas of rights for someone who may have a claim for loss of data in a bailment case. A lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shows some important aspects of bailment…including the fact that “bailment” comes in several forms, and does not have to last very long to create a duty to take care of important material, including data.
 
In the TSA case, there was a claim of theft by a TSA employee. The federal court noted that a lawsuit for bailment had two different “theories.” First, breach of bailment based on negligence. If there was no evidence of negligence, then the person whose property was lost could try and sue under a breach of contract theory. The federal court said the injured party had to choose between either negligent bailment OR breach of contract. Here’s the Williams case: http://www.rbh.com/files/Publication/c9e0d992-fb34-416b-a780-e37c18730725/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/2c9e07cb-dbb8-4fe7-b7f5-f553532b5707/WLJ_Bryan-Conley_PrivacyDevelopments%20_9-21-12.pdf. The bottom line for you will be based on what your contract said, and if you received lawful notice of foreclosure.