Creating and Using Tenant Authorization and Release Forms

By Scott Zucker

Editor's note: The following article is reprinted from the Spring 1998 issue ofMini-Storage Law Commentary, a newsletter written by Scott Zucker for mini-storageowners and managers published by the law firm of Shapiro Fussell Wedge Smotherman &Martin, LLP.The legal relationship between a self-storage facility and a party rentingspace for storage is that of landlord and tenant. That is why the parties use rental orlease agreements to document the terms and conditions of their relationship, rather than apurchase order or sales receipt. The key is that the parties' agreement is in writing. Byreducing agreements to writing, the parties hopefully can avoid future disputes.

Today's leaseagreements contain all of the provisions necessary to outline the rights of the landlordand the obligations of the tenant with regard to the storage of a tenant's personalproperty. But, no matter how well a lease is written, there is always some situation thatoccurs at a self-storage facility that falls "outside" the terms and conditionsof the lease agreement as well as the standard operating procedure for the self-storagefacility. These situations may involve the settlement of a claim made by a tenant for theloss or damage to his property or a request by a tenant for the facility to do somethingon his behalf. When a self-storage owner or manager is confronted with such a situation,and the parties can agree on a resolution, it is important that the terms of theiragreement again be confirmed in writing for the benefit of both parties.

Tenant Releases

Without commenting on the appropriateness of a self-storage facility entering intosettlements with its tenants on loss or damage claims (or even on a wrongful-sale claim),many times the ability of a facility to resolve tenant claims by paying the tenant a smallamount, reducing the tenant's rent or waiving the tenant's rent in its entirety can be avery effective way of resolving future litigation on those claims.

The information contained on a tenant release form should be as specific as possible.However, simple, fill-in-the-blank documents can be used for such a form. In situationswhere there is a tenant loss or damage claim for which the facility agrees to compensatethe tenant, the general release form might read as follows:

Release Agreement

Certainly, from the perspective of a storage owner, once an agreement is reached,having the tenant sign a release of its claim against the facility is a strong defenseagainst any future claim brought by that tenant with regard to the loss or damage of itsproperty. In fact, it may be a complete defense to any future claim. It clearly benefits afacility to have a general release form available to use when such situations occur andsettlements are reached.

Tenant Authorization

The other type of document that should be created and maintained at a self-storagefacility is a form that authorizes a facility to take action on behalf of its tenant,which is not otherwise contemplated by the rental agreement. For example, forms can becreated to allow the owner to cut the tenant's lock, allow a third party to enter atenant's space to remove the tenant's property, or even to verify the abandonment of thetenant's property to the storage facility.

The list of potential authorization forms is endless. Issues arise daily forself-storage managers concerning the release of property where a tenant has died, thetransfer of property where there has been a divorce, not to mention the numerous othersituations where tenants request that facility owners or operators act on their behalf. Inorder to protect a facility from potential liability on future claims brought either bythe tenant or others, such tenant requests must be put in writing and approved by thetenant through some type of authorization form.

Again, the information contained in a tenant authorization form should be as specificas possible. A general authorization form might read as follows:

Tenant Authorization

Scott Zucker is an attorney with the Atlanta-based law firm of Shapiro FussellWedge Smotherman & Martin. Mr. Zucker, who specializes in self-storage law, is afrequent contributor to Inside Self-Storage and a regular speaker at InsideSelf-Storage Expos. He may be reached at (404) 870-2232.