Rodents destroy furniture meant for foster children

You put things away because you want to keep them in a safe place – until they are needed. But what happens if that space becomes infested with rodents?

In the case of a Wrigleyville woman, the storage leaves you out.

She said rats had destroyed thousands of dollars worth of items in her storage unit. Now her dreams of becoming a foster parent have been dashed.

For as long as she can remember, Renata’s dream has been to become a foster parent. Renata is not her real name, but she has asked us not to identify her out of concern for her privacy.

“There are so many beautiful children who just need a loving family, and I have the space in my home,” Renata said.

Earlier this year, Renata was finally approved as a foster parent. And as she made plans to find a larger home, she decided to move some furniture for her future foster children to Self Storage 1 in Wrigleyville.

“They had great reviews online,” Renata said of why she chose the storage facility.

But before she locked up her storage unit last summer, she noticed something.

“There was some rat feces and some shredded cardboard box waste in the room,” Renata said. “And so I went straight down to the management office and spoke to the manager on duty. And at that moment she announced that they were well aware of the rat plague.”

In a statement, Jennique Mason, director of operations for Self Storage 1, told NBC 5 Responds that the facility does not have a rat infestation, but rather a mouse problem.

Mason said this was caused by construction behind the facility.

But Renata said a manager told her flooding in the building was causing the rodent problem.

“The challenge in this case was that they were well aware that the problem had been happening for at least six months and they never chose to contact me as a paying patron, which was extremely frustrating,” said Renata .

Renata said management offered three options: leave her belongings in the unit to be thrown away, find a mover and they can cover some of those costs or get a reduced rate on her rent for six months.

“And so those were the only three options that they offered, which just wasn’t enough for me, considering that the furniture that I was literally going to use for these foster children can no longer be used,” Renata said.

So Renata filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General, and three days later Self Storage 1 terminated her lease. She was told she had until November 8 to collect her belongings.

“And then I noticed that Self Storage 1 had chosen to place an extra lock on my storage space,” says Renata.

In a statement, Self Storage 1 told NBC 5 Responds: “We have made every effort to accommodate (Renata) within the terms of the lease she signed. We offered to credit her with several months of rent and we offered to fully cover all of her moving expenses to move her to a new facility. She refused what we offered and chose to stay in her current unit and has now decided to file a lawsuit against Self Storage 1.

Every company operating in Chicago that rents storage units to the public faces the same vulnerability. We do our best to educate our tenants on what is appropriate to store, and we ask that they not store food. That being said, we ultimately have very little control over what tenants choose to store in their storage space, which could potentially attract mice.”

Now Renata has no intention of removing the rodent-infested items from her unit even if she could get in. But she said the whole ordeal is now a major hiccup in her plans to give foster children a home.

“I now have to determine: if I move to this larger house, how should I furnish it? And so this was a setback for me to be 100% transparent. It was disappointing, very heartbreaking. Life throws you enough problems, and this has definitely been a big one for me,” said Renata.

Self-storage 1 They have always had monthly pest control and recently hired a rodent specialist to solve the problem. Renata now plans to file a complaint in small claims court.

There are a few key takeaways here:

If you rent from a self-storage facility, you will need to sign some pretty strict contracts. Make sure you read them.
In most cases, these contracts stipulate that the value of your stored property cannot exceed $5,000.
You also agree that your belongings will be stored at your own risk, and you agree to release the owner from all liability if any items in your unit are lost or damaged.
Finally, you may want to consider purchasing renters insurance for the unit.